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  • Design Dawgs: BFA Alumni Clay McLaurin and Jenny Vorhoff in Georgia Magazine.

  • Professors Jun, Harshman and Thomloudis all receive Arts Lab Faculty Fellowships for 2022-2023!

  • Interior Design major, Abbie Alf wins first place during Idea Accelerator Demo Day

  • Professor Joe Norman receives grant from CDC to boost vaccine confidence.

  • Reserve Space with Sign-Up Genius 

  • Professors Jun, Harshman and Thomloudis all receive Arts Lab Faculty Fellowships for 2022-2023!

  • Erin Moore receives the General Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Award.

  • Design Dawgs: BFA Alumni Clay McLaurin and Jenny Vorhoff in Georgia Magazine.

  • Professor Joe Norman receives grant from CDC to boost vaccine confidence.

  • Interior Design major, Abbie Alf wins first place during Idea Accelerator Demo Day

  • Reserve Space with Sign-Up Genius 

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AJ Aremu

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Headshot
Degree Seeking
MFA
Area of Study
Studio
Email
justine.aremu@uga.edu
Undergraduate Institution
Georgia Southern University
Undergraduate Degree
BFA in 2D Studio Art
Hometown
Lawrenceville
Research Detail
My work focuses on the potential behind the identity of “Black American”. I create from the position that what it means to be a Black American is something that should belong to Black Americans. It should be theirs and developed by them, but the meaning of that identity has been snatched away at different times and in different ways by the Western World and labeled into confining terms. What if the hinderance of colonization had never left its mark on the expression of what it means to be Black Americans? What would political relations between Africa and the United States look like? What cultural exchanges and expressions would exist?
The foundation of my work is focused on creating and researching an intersectionality between Black Americans and Black Africans. It’s through the exploration of this concept that I’ve come to manifest a past, present, and future that delves into what the Black American would appear as without the colonization of Africa. I’m interested in speculating about a counterfactual history of an unforced immigration to America and integrating amongst others who were originally in the country as well as with others who have also immigrated into the country. With this alternative world I’m creating, I’m reimagining what the Black American would look after generations of being able to openly express their culture and lifestyles in this new United States during the 20th and 21st century. There’s a callback to the idea of Afrofuturism in my work. Though I am not adding an element of science fiction, there is still historical fiction of the Black American experience, and the aim to connect those from the diaspora to their lost African ancestry.
Black people, whether they are credited or not, are catalysts for cultural influences enjoyed by the world. Where they were deprived of the inheritance of culture, knowledge, and legacy, they created and built their own. I believe this to be true in both a fictional and factual world. The art objects I make are a way of connecting with this world I’ve created to explore the exchange of knowledge between Black American and Black Africans. My hope is to inspire the people and to be a catalyst of change for all black people to overcome our trials and tribulations of not only systematic oppression, but also perils of everyday life daily such as debt, maternal mortality, and other issues that plague the human psyche, particularly the black psyche.
Biography

AJ work focuses on the creation of large-scale images with the intent of keeping the viewers’ attention longer, to inspire intimate discussion between the art and the individual. The body of artwork they’ve created over the course of their artistic career are politically charged paintings and prints that strive to encourage individuals to educate themselves on the strife of black individuals. Through the use of silhouettes, rather than the representation being limited to the model used for the imagery, they are able to represent black individuals as a whole.

AJ is a first-generation immigrant born in Sweden to a family of Nigerian origin. Through immersing themselves in the contemporary art world, such as visiting art museums and public family collections, listening to visiting artists, studying abroad, and attending Art Basel in the past few years, they have been able to formulate their concepts and beliefs into their own imagery. AJ has traveled to several different countries, seeing their art and cultures through history, influencing their own artistic values and techniques.

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