NYA CAROLINGTON SKIPPER

Retrospectare, 2022. Charcoal on Bristol paper. 

Creatively interprets the experience of Stephon:

“Being locked up behind a door almost 24 hours a day. You can't go anywhere...You think about the problems you went through, you think about the issues you put people through, parents and whatnot.”

Retrospectare was created on Bristol paper using charcoal of various forms such as willow, powder, and compressed sticks. Charcoal was used to ensure a consistent tone that enhances a vacant atmosphere. The piece does not illustrate desperation, but hope. The idea of “missed opportunities” is a driving force in the work. Stephon’s story describes a system that can pause a person’s life—sending them into a loop of overlapping days where time is meaningless. The hands frozen in time at first glance yearn to touch the chairs and are very close to doing so. They don’t quite, just yet, but when time finally catches up to them, I believe that they regain hope. And in doing so, pulls them out of the pit of confinement into earth and sky—setting off something great in the world—change. I’m confident that Stephon’s testimony will invoke empathy for those who are locked away from their loved ones. Retrospectare means “retrospective” and expresses a linear timeline of repetitive actions happening all at once.