Alexandria Eregbu: “Finding Ijeoma: Entering the Marvelous Journey”- Visiting Artist Lecture Series

Alexandria Eregbu: “Finding Ijeoma: Entering the Marvelous Journey” For this lecture, Alexandria Eregbu walks us through her creative process as a multidisciplinary artist. She begins with her middle name, ‘Ijeoma’ an Igbo name that is traditionally given from Nigerian fathers to their daughters, meaning ‘safe or good journey.’ Here, Eregbu draws connections between personal, familial, and diasporic histories that have emerged within her artistic practice. In doing so, Eregbu further examines the role that origin stories and community storytelling have played in her commitment to narrative/world building—forums which the artist believes, lead to the preservation and empowerment of the individual and collective spirit. Topics addressed in this lecture include: 1.) Materiality + Textile Studies 2.) Visual Communication + Design in Nature 3.) West African Performance, Art, + Philosophy 4.) Surrealist Discourse + The Marvelous Alexandria Eregbu is a visual artist and independent curator. At her core, Alexandria is most passionate about re-imagining 21st century possibilities for creative practice through service and support structures that promote sustainability and accessibility for artists and communities engaging the arts. As an artist, her practice has illuminated pathways globally, nationally, and throughout the Midwest. She has held fellowships with ACRE (Steuben, WI); HATCH Projects, Stony Island Arts Bank, (Chicago, IL); The Center for Afrofuturist Studies (Iowa City, IA), Independent Curators International (New Orleans, New York City, Martinique); and The Camargo Foundation/3Arts Residency (France). Among her curatorial projects includes du monde noir, an artistically run collective which seeks to identify contemporary evidences of Surrealist activity produced by visual artists and writers of the African diaspora in the U.S. and abroad. Forthcoming projects include Oh, Heavenly Father, Mother Ocean, and Cosmic Seed…! her solo show at Ditch Projects in Eugene, OR. This lecture is made possible in part by the Fibers Foundation. Lectures are free and open to all. Website- alexandriaeregbu.com