Ashley January

Region: Midwest

Website: https://ashleyjan.com

City / State: Chicago, IL

 I address the Black maternal mortality and morbidity crisis in America through painting and multimedia. Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. Influenced by my own traumatic pregnancy and survival, the imagery centers the experiences of Black mothers and children who have suffered loss but challenge the institutional modes in finding solutions. Motifs are structured around ideas dictated by new rituals of care. The images serve as a call to action for more awareness, research, and eradication of unnecessary maternal and infant death in the United States of America.