Meet the Moores
Although I’ve lived around Brooklyn, Williamsburg has always been the best kept secret of a location for majority of my upbringing. There were other parts of Brooklyn who had no clue what Williamsburg was. But I spent a lot of time at granny’s house, over on Moore St.
A couple weeks ago I was in my lobby shopping some pieces off to the florist of my building, Mr. Ford, and the security guard, Ms. Small. Both are huge enthusiast of my work and always have questions as to how my creations come about. It wasn’t until Ms. Small had to reassure she was understanding correctly, but she asked if all my creations were made here in this building on Moore St. I replied yes, and she was stunned, but that very moment it hit me…
The ATTIE Project consist of me birthing ‘Moores’, right out of Granny’s apt, on Moore Street!
( FULL CIRCLE )
The Moors:
The term has also been used in Europe in a broader, somewhat derogatory sense to refer to Muslims in general,[6] especially those of Arab or Berber descent, whether living in Spain or North Africa.[7] During the colonial era, the Portuguese introduced the names "Ceylon Moors" and "Indian Moors" in South Asia and Sri Lanka, and the Bengali Muslims were also called Moors.[8] In the Philippines, the longstanding Muslim community, which predates the arrival of the Spanish, now self-identifies as the "Moro people", an exonym introduced by Spanish colonizers due to their Muslim faith.
As I am familiar with the title, I cannot say I am familiar with the people. Here is where I opened another door of knowledge to educate not only my audience attracted to the Project, but also educate myself on history, which theoretically flows through this here DNA.
My art categorizes itself under ‘abstract expressionism’. No prior knowledge of art, I grabbed paint markers, and got to working on faces. The idea originally went down in 2016/2017 from my SOHO conglomerate, The Love Child & Will; @grandmotherslivingroom. For myself I saw it as a perfect starting ground to start my art journey. Faces on face, and it became my thing.
“It takes a player to shoot a shot. But it takes a team to win a game.”
The Mamba Mentality kicked in. I spent the last year learning, understanding, mastering my work, and it started to show and prove. The entire time I’m blindly creating, every piece in front of granny. She co-signed every ATTIE from pocket to wall clock. (upwards to 200 different artifacts). She even inquired if I was selling them, cuz I was on it day in, day out. She didn’t understand much of what was going on, but it brought her joy. Dementia isn’t easy to deal with, but it brought us both joy during some dark times this past year. Warrior blood.
I usually have to explain my work to Granny because who knows what she’s interpreting from the vivid imagery, nonetheless I break down every piece as it is. It’s a face Granny, those are the eyes, thats suppose to be a nose, and here’s the mouth.
Granny turned 91 August 1st, and I displayed close enuff 150 creations on ATTIE IG page. She watched all those go down. She’s definitely proud of what’s happening. Although she didn’t understand what was going on she seen familiar faces. Faces of our ancestors…Three days later Granny passed away in her sleep.
Here’s to you Granny….move these Moores with me from above.
Bless.
