Deborah Grayson
They Think of Love as a Reddening of the Earth Under the Sun
April 6 – April 28, 2024

They Think of Love as a Reddening of the Earth Under the Sun is about what happens at the intersection of the archive, biomythography, and spirit memory. For the last seven years Grayson has been deeply immersed in origin stories—stories that say something about who we are, where we’ve been, and who we might become if we rewild ourselves and our stories. She reflects on questions like: Who are our people? How have we connected with and nurtured lands and communities? What are the rituals that have sustained and carried our families? What artifacts have we fashioned to bring magic, love, and life to lands and communities? She asks these questions as she wanders through archives and maps, time, space and cultures to restore the stories that have been violently annotated or redacted. Each work of art in They See Love is inspired by the stories of our ancestors to ground ourselves in communion with the land and community.

About the Artist:

Deborah Grayson is a fine art printmaker, painter and scholar. She creates work about the interior lives of Black people and how they fully live in their lives. In her work Grayson is interested in capturing the nuance, beauty and dimensionality of Black lives that often gets drowned out by the necessity of always having to say truly obvious and basic things like Black lives matter. Kevin Quashie tells us that there is heft and history in everyday moments. For Grayson, to reflect on these everyday moments – to recognize and relish them –provides an opportunity for more expansive ways of seeing and being. Born and raised in Washington, DC and Montgomery County, Maryland (Go-Go for life). She earned a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park and an MA and PhD in American Studies from Michigan State University where her areas of concentration were literature, history and science. Her studio is located in NE Washington, DC.