Shani Peters - We Promote Knowledge & Love: Parade Day in Harlem, (performance shot) 2011

Shani Peters

I am interested in the power of collective activity, in the identification of the self within the whole, and in cyclical patterns throughout history and generations. My work is an ongoing exercise in processing the present through analysis of the past and in cultural record keeping. I strive to connect my individual studio practice to a broader social practice art. My studio work bridges my personal experiences with the collective history of Black people. Often, it examines this history and its present circumstances through the perspective of family structures as they are microcosms for larger societal conditions. My perspective is heavily informed by my own family and by the era in which I live. I was born into the “me generation” of the socially conservative 1980’s by way of faithful Black Power era parents who live by a mantra of social responsibility. The constant programming, imagery, and instantly accessible information delivered by media/digital expansions from the 1980’s and on has also been a major determining force in my way of producing art. By appropriating semi-public sources I cross iconic signifiers of historical figures and movements such as, Black Panther Party members, W.E.B. DuBois, and Marcus Garvey, with those of fictional television characters, and contemporary cultural icons. I recompose these figures based on my perception of their historical relevance and more closely by the roles they’ve played in my personal socialization. My social practice is based in the same essential ideals that inspire my studio work: social collectivity, generational connections, and cultural record keeping, and seeks to provide tangible community service in a culturally rich, theoretical context. Today, I seek to fuse these influences by positioning one idea against, or with another, layering references through collage, print, installation, video and public art projects in an attempt to push back my own program- a new account, or record of existence.