“Since 2008, Ndebele Dolls and later in 2018, Egyptian Paddle Dolls have dominated my art practice. African Dolls function as a bridge to contemporary art-making as a tool for me to decolonize myself. Ndebele Dolls yield knowledge about living in a society that is decolonized during contemporary times, while Egyptian Paddle Dolls offer knowledge about precolonial Nubian society. African Dolls have stimulated my genetic memory. Genetic memory is a theorized phenomenon which argues that memories present at birth and without any associated sensory experience can be inherited.

“African Americans, including myself, do not know where we come from, and it is a significant issue in our maturation. But there is a genetic transfer via ancestral memories which manifest and can be seen in the similarities of Africans and African Americans. Although colonialism is a large factor in this scenario, it is critical to examine the past, present, and to reimagine the future to determine truth and freedom.

“Part of my new series is about the “Saltwater Railroad.” The “Saltwater Railroad” refers to the coastal waterway traveled by many enslaved people escaping from the Southern slave states into the British-controlled Bahamas. Going deep into my roots, I have learned I am a descendant of African Slaves and Black Seminoles. My family was one of the few black families living in Miami that was not from the Bahamas.

“I believe that at this time in our history, we must access our ancestral memories, and shift our paradigm of consciousness to honestly consider diversity and humanity on a different level.” -CE

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Cheryl D. Edwards, an African American artist, was born in 1954 in Miami Beach, Florida. In 1987, while working as an Administrative Law Judge in New York City, Cheryl took night classes with Ernest Crichlow at the Art Students League. Cheryl has exhibited in many shows in the Washington, DC, New York, Virginia, Maryland, Miami, Texas, Pennsylvania, Rotterdam, Germany, Monaco, Hong Kong, and Denmark. She works in oil, ink, acrylic, printmaking, mixed media, pulp painting, papermaking, and installation. Cheryl is the winner of The Black Writers Fellowship: Reporter, awarded by Hand Papermaking, Inc. She is a recipient of the Art and Humanities Fellowship Program grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, (2023, 2022, 2021 and 2015). Cheryl is an awardee in the Art Cart: Saving the Legacy project selected by the Research Center for Arts and Culture. Cheryl’s work is archived in the Academic Commons Columbia University Archives. Among her other accomplishments, Cheryl was a Senior Advisor to the Executive Director of the David Driskell Center at the University of Maryland (2015-2023), a member of the Education Committee of the McLean Project for the Arts and an Advisor to the Washington Sculptors Group in Washington, D.C. She has been living and working in Washington, DC for the past 28 years.

FREIGHT GALLERY is an artist-run micro-gallery in a 1925 Hollister Whitney freight elevator in Washington, DC. The space is 75 inches wide, 95 inches high, and 85 inches deep–a perfect container for displaying sculpture and small installations. Its mission is to create more opportunities for artists.

FREIGHT GALLERY
2414 Douglas Street, NE
Washington, DC  20018
There is plenty of on-street parking. Please text (202) 276-5430 if you need parking accommodations. Enter on the side of the building through the loading dock.
www.freightgallery.com
@freightgallerydc
@freightgallery

*Please note: the exhibition is on view and open to the public for the duration of the 2 hour reception only.

Photo credit: Cheryl Edwards