Abstract/Summary

For visual artist and professor jina valentine, a sense of place is closely tied with the imperative to build community. Having experienced several relocations, first as a student and later as an academic, valentine has met this requirement by developing systems of support and works of collaboration several times over and using a myriad of tactics. These strategies have included co-founding Black Lunch Table, an organization focused on Black artists and legacy; teaching inside and outside the university system; and considering parenthood as slow sculpture. Transdisciplinary artist and educator Kelly Lloyd joins valentine as her interviewer. Bringing these practitioners together offers a salient portrait of the artist as community member. While traversing the landmarks of valentine’s journey, this conversation interrogates the tensions that have presented themselves throughout her career: material/ephemeral, potential/limitation, confidence/doubt, impulse/regret. In this revealing, wide-ranging exchange, the two artists examine the value of mentorship as a vital intervention, explore how to cultivate anchors as a matter of praxis, and explain why the concept of “work” should be called something else. —Andrea L. Battleground, OHP Producer The following interview is adapted from two Zoom sessions conducted in December 2022.