Tasanee Durrett aka Visories

Growing up, my mother would always take me to the museums and art fairs in Chicago where I was born and raised. The artwork and the artists that I was exposed to were phenomenal, but where were the artists that looked like me? Where was the artwork that had people of color?

Growing up, my mother would always take me to the museums and art fairs in Chicago where I was born and raised. The artwork and the artists that I was exposed to were phenomenal, but where were the artists that looked like me? Where was the artwork that had people of color?

As I grew older, I started dreaming of museums and art events filled with people of color from all cultures and backgrounds. I began stepping out of my comfort zone and drawing what has never been and still isn’t the norm: Black Culture and Black Stories. This journey has led me to understand more of who I am as I learn more about the stories of the brown and black communities.

I’m a minimalist artist who explores the themes of Black Stories in the realms of identity, culture, and placemaking/architecture. My artwork utilizes mediums of drawing and mixed media to display narratives of Black existence that are typically kept hidden from us. I use poetry, experiences, memory, and historical literature.

I draw using one line – meaning, each piece is drawn with my hand never lifting from the medium that I work with until it is absolutely complete. I specialize in contour drawing, also known as “single-line” drawing. I enjoy the complexity behind the minimal nature of the technique. It reminds me of the Black Diaspora and how blackness is seen as a simple beauty made up of complex histories, essences, and backgrounds.