Ashanté Kindle American, b. 1990

Overview
Running Magic Right Through Ya, 2022
Running Magic Right Through Ya, 2022

"Kindle’s work details the jubilation of Black hair through elements of earth, origin and discovery. Her matriarchal sense of community, she says, comes from regularly being at hair salons and barbershops in her hometown. This experience serves as a direct inspiration in Kindle’s artistic journey to capture Blackness through portraits and interpretations of Black hair. "

 

- Rachel Ebio

Ashanté Kindle is a multidisciplinary artist most known for her abstract sculptural wave paintings. Originally from Clarksville, TN, she received her BFA from Austin Peay State University (2019) and MFA from The University of Connecticut (2022). Kindle's work is grounded in the textures and science of Black hair and her personal healing journey back to self. Repeated gestures over time manifest as abstracted waveforms and become an act of labor and meditation that engages her body and emotions. She conjures feelings of autonomy and freedom, utilizing improvisation in her work as a vehicle for spiritual exchange. She was a NXTHVN Cohort 04 Fellow and has exhibited her work at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, The Benton Museum, Red Arrow Gallery, Sean Kelly Gallery and most recently a solo exhibition at Belmont University along with numerous other galleries and institutions nationally. Ashanté work is included in The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford CT.
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Works
Biography
Ashante Kindle
Ashante Kindle

Ashanté Kindle utilizes waves from hair as a visual language used to celebrate the history and beauty of Blackness. 

 

“My practice exists as a form of personal healing as I create with a desire to celebrate the history and beauty of Blackness. I find inspiration in the s-curl waves that form in Black hair through wetting and different styling techniques like finger waves and daily brushing. Through the use of mark making in drawing, painting and sculpting, the marks transform into abstracted wave forms that resemble the natural textures that occur in Black hair. The process of creating becomes as important as the final piece as these durational marks begin to represent the echo of a soft whisper or a frenzied scream of emotion.

 

Transformation tends to hide what was once there but can not deny its existence. I sit with and embrace the vastness and beauty of my identity. The circle calls to the crown of the body as an infinite portal. I embed the work with objects like hair bows, beads, barrettes and black obsidian. This symbolic act of adornment infuses joy and protection into memory while on a journey of healing.”

 

Kindle currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. She  received her BFA from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN and her MFA from The University of Connecticut where she was also a NXTHVN studio fellow in 2023. She has exhibited at Philadelphia’s Magic  Gardens, The Benton Museum (Connecticut), Red Arrow Gallery (Tennessee) and Belmont University (Tennessee).

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