Eseosa Edebiri

I am an interdisciplinary artist from the Bay Area, CA currently based in Chicago, where I received my BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. My work focuses on the more challenging conversations we may have out in the world while taking a softer approach to the topic, in an attempt to not add to the ever-growing desensitization of the trauma of it all. Whether discussions on intergenerational trauma, autonomy, or conversations on health and wellness, the way we approach the topic is essential. That is why I take a tactile approach, focusing the materiality on what is often plush to touch. My color palette reflects this softness with its bright, child-like innocence, hopefully inviting you to soothe your inner child.

 

While I have been playing with the balance between soft and hard, some recent work has been more lighthearted. I am interested in playing with space, time, and a sense of what could be, where or when are you going or are you coming? Often playing on the uncanny and the nostalgic. I balance my time between my practice and teaching artistic skills to all ages.

Eseosa Edebiri & Irma C. Ruiz Elementary School

Click photo to enlarge

Click photo to enlarge

I would like to show students craft as an artistic practice. The history of craft is seen as women’s work and for this reason, craft as a term has been disregarded as a way of making outside of high art, which implies it is low art. Accessible art should not be regarded as “low”. Depending on the amount of students this could be done in the form of making quilted or crocheted piece- I’d like to teach the students how to sew or crochet, each would work on their personal quilt square to then be combined into a full blanket, by me with student assistance. I’m open to multiple skill shares if time is permitting. 

Project: I taught the students how to latch hook and punch needle! There was some yarn drawing as well. This work focused on teaching the 4th graders of Ruiz Elementary a new skill.

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Artists in Public Schools creates artist residencies in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), providing expansive art making experiences for students, educators, and professional Chicago-based artists. Working together with a collaborative, community-focused mindset, we celebrate and widely share the unique stories of CPS students and schools through art and creativity. When the arts and aesthetics are integrated into education, work, and life, we strengthen our capacity to learn. Creating something is at the core of learning.