Meet Abasa Aziz: Artist and Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Abasa Aziz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Abasa, we’d love to hear more about your end-goal, professionally.
The end goal for me is to integrate a more accurate story of the descendants of Africans in America. Culture is often used to describe things of a modern trend but in actuality we come from a culture so dignified and advanced that they were performing cataract surgeries hundreds of years ago, but through a one sided telling of history we think of our ancestors as savages that were less than Tarzan instead of the founders of civilization that traded, made laws and even had our own holidays and custom we invented culture and I use my art to define that along with the Heroes who sacrificed to make the world better for us. I plan on using my talent to educate as many people as I can until I can no longer do that because to show a child their potential is the ultimate achievement.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I used all the hurt and pain and evil looks I had always gotten to try to show people what it felt like to be seen as Us. There is a famous old saying about a problem and that problem you have is said to be a Nigger in a woodpile, so I decided to put together a show from the point of view of a woodpile. The pile of wood I choose was a perfect symbol of how I felt and who I was. They were the same pallets I used to pull my bricks-and-mortar, the same pallets that were discarded and thrown away, just like my father’s before me. I took those pallets and displayed black characters that were meant to demean us and portray us as less than human. Those dirty old pallets weren’t supposed to be in a place of prominence. It was dirty wood meant to be worked and stay outside. It wasn’t the clean wood that’s refined and used for furniture. We presented people with the ugly stuff that was only supposed to work and remain silent. Success and failure are imposters, they are relative to how other people view you, to be engaged in work is the only way an artist can view themselves, I constantly stay engaged making art, so I ne er take the chance to view myself as a success or failure, but constantly working.
I have a new show coming for Juneteenth for Atl and I’m very excited about that.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people in life that helped me get here, because I try to learn from everyone, because there is a learning opportunity in every situation. Working with my Farther laid down the groundwork for who and where I am. Watching my Dad work hard and not complain showed me how to do it, and his love for knowledge was something that I gained. He was my biggest champion and his encouragement and love was the biggest factor in me being an artist.

Website: zhrvys.com

Instagram: abasaaziz

Facebook: Abasa Aziz

Youtube: https://youtu.be/aqNskHxWE8E

Other: http://recountmagazine.com/author/charvisharrell/

Image Credits
Na