A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY
 

Ebony Iman Dallas

Greenwood Imagine

The creators of Greenwood Imagine combine live performance, poetry, video, and visual art in an effort to immerse visitors in an experience that dissolves the line between past and present. The artists want visitors to contemplate a world that might have existed if the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre had not occurred. Bringing generational trauma to the surface, Greenwood Imagine envelops viewers in the terror Greenwood citizens felt and asks them to link it to their current moment. Poet Anthony Curtis Brinkley works with artists Ebony Iman Dallas and Derick Alexander in moving viewers to acknowledge the trauma, respect it, and subsequently whisk it away to make room for future ideas and identities. Moving through an entangled temporal landscape, between past and future and in alternate universes, Greenwood Imagine cultivates a space to contemplate the future in a world where the Massacre never happened. The work is inspired by Brinkley’s poem, “When Dreams Lose Wing''.

Greenwood Imagine will be exhibited twice. First, it will show at Living Arts of Tulsa, 307 E. Reconciliation Way, Tulsa, OK, from May 17 to June 14 with a full presentation on May 29. It will then will show at Rudisill Regional Library, 1520 N Hartford Ave, Tulsa, OK June 15 to June 28 with a full presentation on June 19.

 
 
 
“I am a storyteller, a painter, a muralist, and founder of Afrikanation Artists Organization. Inspired by travel and individual tales of resilience — I paint to encourage hope in others while amplifying voices through representation.

My paintings often feature characters adorned with intricate, colorful wings reminiscent of a butterfly. These wings represent internal beauty radiating out for the world to see and challenge ideas of what it means to be beautiful, strong, and resilient.

Combining rich, fiery hues with whimsical forms is how I bring the energy and spirit of my subjects to life. With a focus on authenticity and progress, my work takes form organically with each line determining the shape and direction of the next. This process has brought forth results that were unexpected and true on a subconscious, spiritual level.”

- Ebony Iman Dallas

 
 
 
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