In collaboration with The Galleries at Moore, some Philadelphia U School High School students participated in a multifaceted, semesterlong investigation of poetry, performance and creative expression.
The students worked under the guidance of teaching artist Perry “Vision” DiVirgilio to create dynamic poetry and performance pieces. The semester concluded with a schoolwide showcase at a local community center and the release of a student-created poetry anthology titled The Hidden State of the Mind. The project featured Philadelphia-based artist, photographer and Moore alumna Naomieh Jovin, who worked with the students to creatively document and film their spoken word performances. The printed anthology and Jovin’s videos were presented this fall in an exhibition in The Galleries.
Jovin graduated from Moore in 2017 with a degree in Photography & Digital Arts. Since graduation, she has worked as a freelance photographer with a broad range of creative abilities. Her work has been shown in numerous group exhibitions including Field Day at MoMA PS1 and Mother’s Day at Little Berlin. Jovin was interviewed by Deanna Emmons '20, a senior Curatorial Studies major at Moore.
Deanna Emmons: Before we dive into the U School Project, can you share a bit about your own artistic practice, as well as any common themes you find yourself drawn to in your work? I understand you enjoy portrait photography and the idea of capturing personal history.
Naomieh Jovin: I use found images of my mother and incorporate the nude female body to try and recreate similar moments. Through this process I try to make connections to my mother’s personal history alongside my own, touching upon topics of sexual violence and racial bias.
A common theme I’ve noticed in my work overall is the attempt to preserve individuality while deconstructing false narratives. For example, I’ve been exploring my father’s narrative through the perspective of others. I’m also interested in the narrative automatically placed on black bodies in institutionalized settings such as slavery, imprisonment and violence. Overall, I have a great interest in learning and preserving individual histories.
D: How has your practice progressed or changed since graduating from Moore?
J: When I was at Moore, I was trying to remove the complex narrative of the black body involving pain and suffering, especially when showing in a predominantly white space. In critiques, people kept bringing it up when it wasn’t my intention in the work. I found myself trying to find ways to avoid certain conversations during critiques. Now, I would say my audience is much wider, so I am no longer trying to remove that narrative. I am also more structured now than before. While living at Moore, I could work spontaneously and models were easily accessible.
D: Can you talk a bit about the U School Project and the events and programming that led up to the exhibition? What did your involvement look like and what was that experience like for you?
J: I worked on a project with the U School last year with (you) and Joshua Kleiman. I was contacted by you again this year to do something similar except with video. The previous project dealt with sort of the same thing as far as documenting student work and preparing an exhibition.
This time, I was working around the students' schedule to complete two days of shooting and began editing immediately after. This project felt special because the students trusted me. When I was younger, I was never able to publicly write about these topics. It was powerful to gain their trust talking about their life experiences and being so open.
D: Is there any information we should know about the project that we may not receive from the currently displayed exhibition? Was there a piece that resonated with you the most?
J: During the process of creating these videos the students would come in, sit down and I would ask them to talk a little bit about themselves and what their poem was about. Then we’d discuss ideas of different ways we could film them reciting their poems.
There was actually one more video that should have been shown however, due to some technical difficulties I unfortunately could not include it. I resonated with this Student’s work the most and we worked really hard that day on trying to get the shot that we felt it best represented them and their poem. When the poet spoke about the piece they stated that they wanted people to know that learning and healing from trauma is a process and takes time.
D: What was the process like of deciding what poetry readings to shoot and display in the show?
J: The process was very easy. I didn't have to choose. The idea was to have two videos play on each of the three screens . Six students came in.
D: We’ve previously discussed the power and influence of the work you made in your youth, can you discuss what creativity and art making provided you during your teen years?
J: I went to a high school that was similar to the U School, where teachers are open to creativity. I took pictures all day, and that’s all I would do. My teachers even let me skip classes to use the studio. Creativity helped me during this time because I was going through a lot, and art served as my outlet.
D: Do you see yourself working with youth again in the future? What other projects are you working on/what can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?
J: Yes, I do see myself working with youth again, and I actually currently work in South Philadelphia at a rec center. There, I am a teaching artist under the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, Monument Lab and Make the World Better foundation. I work with teens and adults interested in furthering their knowledge on photography.
In terms of other projects, I will officially be showing work at the African American Museum in Philadelphia and the work submitted will become a part of their permanent collection. So go see that, take your friends!
D: Thank you for sharing your work and experience with us and I look forward to seeing more from you as you progress in your career!
You can see more of Naomieh’s work on her Artsy page, https://www.artsy.net/artist/naomieh-jovin.
