During this year’s Black History Month Canadian brand Wuxly partnered with three local Black artists to share their talents, stories, and voices. They were each given a blank jacket to use as a canvas and create a wearable art piece. Below you can check out their creations and inspirations.
Imani Busby – @imani.dominique
“I am inspired by the stories of those around me.”
Imani is a visual artist, an undergraduate research assistant, and is studying creative industries with a specialization in the fashion industry. She explains how she has seen a lack of diversity in the art world: a lack in diversity of race, identity, ability, and gender. She says, “We need to see ‘brothers on the wall’ when we walk into galleries and public spaces, outside of black history month. We need to see more stories accepted by the art world that come from a variety of individuals as opposed to accepting the selected narrative per culture.” And those are the stories her art aims to tell—the stories of people who don’t get to often see themselves in art. This is the jacket she created inspired by her Caribbean heritage:
Tafari Steele – @paperbagroyalty
“The overall idea is to let aesthetic create conversation. Gret joy comes from creating and challenges the pieces bring.”
Tafari Steel was born and raised in Toronto. After playing basketball in school for some time he got back into art. He is an artist familiar with working on uncommon canvases. Before this collaboration with Wuxly, he had used shoes, jackets, speakers, and hats instead of traditional canvases. He says that for most of his creations, “Thought is put into creating a social conversation.” Tafari creates using aspects from his everyday life such as culture and pop media. His inspiration is the outcome of his art, which makes him look forward to creating more. This is his creation:
Jabari “Elicser” Elliott – @elicserellitott
“[His] most notable works can be described as a highly improvised collage of soft characters and organic shapes, layered and blended through transparencies.”
Elicser graduated from Sheridan College’s animation program. After that he started creating a collection of murals and other public artworks in Toronto. Elicser’s work has been exhibited in The Art Gallery of Ontario, The Royal Ontario Museum, and LE Gallery. He has also been an arts educator with the Art gallery of Ontario’s “Free After Three” youth arts program and the Toronto Jazz Festival, teaching young people how to paint with aerosol. His talent has allowed him to produce and illustrate a series of books titled “Know Love.” Elicser’s work is influenced by past experiences and relationships while also taking inspiration from passers-by to create community-based murals. This is the jacket he created for this project: