Essence Enwere
Minneapolis, MN
https://essenceenwere.squarespace.com
Instagram: @E_bylon
I Am Coming To See You
2023
Screen Printed on Recycled Paper
18″x 5”x3.5”
Artist Statement
In I Am Coming To See You, a time-bending story is told about ancestral inheritances, love, and survival through time and space. In this newly created & unique book form, the audience is led to the center of the work by unfolding the pages back till the reader finds love, connection, and respect while simultaneously calling out the conditions within which that care must traverse. It is a book that tells, reflects, and is full of history while keeping your feet firmly planted in the present. The book form itself feels like unwrapping, pulling off layers of the city and society until we get to the expansive and open center of connection, nature, finding one’s self. This story is one of my Black identity, and my continuous desire to find and connect with my ancestors through nature, writing, and self-discovery. A feat that becomes harder and harder with the confinement & gentrification of the city and the bombardment of ads and technology clouding our thoughts. I Am Coming To See You is a story many people who look like me and the like can deeply relate to. A story of finding yourself as an African American and reconnecting with your loved ones. These 15 pages are devoted to exploring your ancestry, and to find an answer to who you are, you have to look back and talk to someone who has been historically silenced and hidden away from you.