An Other A,B,C

melissandre varin and Eole

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In December 2020 we spoke with Axis member melissandre varin as part of our Artist of the Month feature. This conversation was one of our highlights of the year and demonstrated the importance and relevancy of melissandre's work.

Since this time we have continued to follow melissandre's art making practice, and have been continually impressed by the vitality of their work. We are delighted to offer melissandre a commission of £500 to support the completion of a new collaborative writing project entitled An Other A,B,C.  


An Other A,B,C

In a time of global pandemic, Black, queer, artist-co-parent melissandre witnessed an expansion of their socially engaged practice with and towards Eole, a 2 years old. An Other A,B,C is imagined as a digital, printable, and shareable open access publication on self-preservation, love, and resistance at home and beyond. The zine captures and shares intimate moments as part of movements for racial justice.

This pamphlet is made from hand-picked gathering of unregulated conversations between two human beings navigating the spectrum of fragility involved in crafting non-normative worlds. melissandre works with and around Eole’s baby graffitti, in-between verbal communication made of gaps, and the joy infused from being with each other. This ABC is a unique home-made book to engage in difficult conversations with little ones and grown ups playing with building blocks as worlds of the possible

Intergenerational conversations on racial justice are essential to transform our realities by transmitting personal testimonies. This short collection of conversations is not reserved for beings with children, it is a material to be used - queer used.

The pamphlet is inclusive of Black trans and queer beings - writen by one. As melissandre writes in one of the poems preserved in the beta test of this project: ‘Mothering - radical and incandescent love that refuses gendered delimitations' this gathering is ‘for Eole and all of us’ and it is liberating.

“The commission and the care support i am receiving from Axisweb help me and Eole to dream bigger. There is materiality attached to making with a little one, making physical and intentional space, allowing a significant amount of time to experiment on the little one’s own terms - among other things. On another note, the commission is worth 2 days of daycare for a whole month of fun and highly valued solitary work for me. In other words, this commission is love and we appreciate the time together and apart that it offers Eole and i.”

melissandrevarin

ruins of heteronormativity, 2021
background by Eole (2yo)
recycled fruit container, black marker, black paint, black tape, 2 instax images

photography credit: Mandip Singh Seehra LRPS
Visible from the street until mid-March 2021 at Arcadia Gallery.


Axis is committed to supporting artists and showcasing the work that they do. If you are interested in joining Axis, you can find more information on our different membership offers here

 

 

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