Hello, my name is Brianna Armstrong and I am a multimedia fiber & textile artist. I have trained myself to become a painter. During this process, I applied the techniques of painting my reality by using quilting, found fabrics, felt, and hair, as my media.

For the past few years, I have been capturing the celebration of what Black excellence and Black culture looks like to me through painting with fabric. In everything that is wrong, I find something that is right. When life becomes chaotic and fragmented, I find beauty within it, embracing that fragmentation. There is a sense of optimism and the willingness to push the overcoming.

I continue to push these ideas further within my works by prioritizing Black women and exploring the realm of Afro-Surrealism and the radical struggle. As a Black woman, I believe that the best way to explain the reality of life for Black people in America is through the extraordinary. By looking at powerful imagery within Black art you become aware of the cultural impact being presented.

Memory
​mem·o·ry
noun

the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.
something remembered from the past; a recollection.

Immortal
im·mor·tal
adjective

living forever; never dying or decaying.

“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” - Malcolm X

​Why is it that my Black womanhood, Black skin, Black power, Black optimism, and Black excellence seen as a threat yet are so intriguing? As a Black woman living in the United States, it is clear that our experiences aren’t the same as being a Black man or a white woman. Black women face various dilemmas because of the social dynamics. American lawyer and civil rights activist, Kimberle Crenshaw, coined the term Intersectionality and highlighted the urgency of it for Black women.

So many of these women were not able to survive their encounters with police brutality. Victims like Sandra Bland, Breonna Taylor, and Oluwatoyin Salau come to mind. So often our stories are dismissed, leaving us feeling abandoned to fend for ourselves.

When you cannot see a problem, you cannot solve it. Without a proper frame to see, remember, and hold these Black women up as a consequence it has become so easy for them to slip through the cracks. It is so important to bear witness to this reality and speak up for victims of prejudice and social injustices. To bring them into the light and honor the women that protect others. Say their names anywhere and everywhere. Bear witness to the often painful realities that many black women have come to face. Continue the conversation.

I find myself asking the questions, How can I exist with all of this rage and all of this pain and all of this anger? How can I possibly exist every day out here in the world with that? How do I turn that into glory? How do I turn that into power? And how do I transcend all that is facing me so closely? I believe that the words that we speak hold so much weight to them. It is so important to be cautious of this, especially when chanting in large groups. I created these felt paintings and picket signs as a way to protest, support, and give Black women hope. To give a reminder that our energy truly never dies because it is infinite.

I believe that butterflies can represent the essence of your soul. The butterfly undertakes a number of cycles in order to manifest. They are symbols of alteration and rebirth, as in nature they go through a transformation. They are gorgeous, elusive, and inspirational. The butterflies in each portrait symbolizes the age of death of the late Sandra Bland, Breonna Taylor, and Oluwatoyin Salau.