In Search of a Certain Eden (Natura Negra series)
2019 - Photography (Photography)
111.76 x 139.7 cm
Chanell Stone
Natura Negra , which translates to “Black Nature”, is a black-and-white photographic series by Chanell Stone that explores the connection between the Black body and nature within man-made environments. The series features a compilation of environmental portraits staged in urban “forests” that explore the notion of “holding space” within one’s immediate environment. Each image depicts an effort to reclaim and reconnect with the earth, even in spaces of compartmentalized nature like backyard gardens, flora intended as urban beautification, and lush public spaces. The photograph In Search of a Certain Eden depicts the artist standing in a bed of blooming flowers in front of a school in Brooklyn, NYC. Unknown to the artist at the time, the flower is called a Plantation Lily, which blossoms once a year. This kind of serendipitous detail is common in Stone’s practice, as she often creates work spontaneously as she wanders through urban settings. For Stone, this series operates in the legacy of the Great Migration, which saw the movement of 6 million African Americans out of the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West between 1916 and 1970 in an attempt to escape racist ideology, widespread lynching, and the subsequent limited econominc opportunties. When Black Americans fled the horrific conditions of the South during this time, and arrived in urban areas like Chicago and Los Angeles, they often left behind not only their economic and social bases, but also their connection to the land. Stone’s Natura Negra series functions as an argument for a rekindling and reawakening of this latent bond. Stone’s project reveals the inherent disconnection from nature that corresponds to the realities of urban life, but also suggests that cultivated urban spaces can act as rich—if more nuanced—sites for communing and (re)connecting with nature.
Chanell Stone’s practice explores what she describes as the “re-naturing” of the Black body to the American landscape—an act that aims to complicate and sublimate the history of American slavery into a reimagined relationship between African Americans and the earth. She describes growing up feeling that, as an African American, “this isn’t your land or it isn’t for you.” She remembers often hearing how America was built by immigrants, and while that may be one aspect of America’s history, Stone’s work demonstrates how crucial it is to acknowledge that America was also built by various slavery structures, and in particular, Black slaves, and Black Americans. The artist’s work challenges subtle and insidious forms of Black erasure such as the immigrant narrative. In response to such narratives, she has recently spent time examining this history with her family—looking through photo albums and listening to her grandmother’s memories. For Stone, it is a way for her to reclaim the narrative, and to piece together a fractured American history.
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