London-based photographer Lucie Rox is subverting the societal image of black womanhood by means of surrealism and afrofuturism. Rox is inspired by her art medium’s ability to transform from something factual and simple to something other worldly and completely subverted; “photography, which as a medium is, by essence. a very simple thing and very matter-of-fact, can be stretched and pushed to create some form of abstracted reality”.
As a Black woman, this enables and empowers Rox to create and see a different visual representation of Black women. In pairing with friend and makeup artist Crystabel Riley during the first lockdown, the two women founded a zine – WATERCOLOUR- an inventive and impressive publication, beginning with discussion around Black womanhood.
Inspired by “the idea of the connection between skin and landscape as a very abstract concept” derived from a concept that arises in River Solomon’s 2019 novel The Deep, Lucie and Crystabel sought to emulate it through its “deep sea hybrid afrofuturistic creatures”.
In regards to how she develops her signature style, Lucie mixes various techniques with a more classic darkroom set up with collages, paintings and photograms, always thriving off experimentation. “The transformability of one image is very interesting to me, how different things can emerge from one shot depending on how you treat it.”
Among Rox’s inspirations sit the work of Audre Lorde, the writings of Chantal Akerman and Moor Mother’s poetry.
Lucie Rox (Copyright © Lucie Rox, 2021)
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