Niki Dionne Explores Black Women and Their Stories in Exhibition

Niki Dionne is telling the stories of Black women through felt fabric in her most recent exhibition. It’s being held at the South Dallas Cultural Center in Texas.

The free exhibition, titled Actual Footage of Me, features images of Black women crafted through Dionne’s signature felting technique.

Speaking to KERA News, Dionne revealed that the collection aimed to highlight tales of Black women experiencing their daily lives.

“If you walk through the gallery space, it’s really whimsical. You’ll see Black women doing mundane things, like sitting poolside. It’s not heavy, you know, but it still gives you the opportunity to kind of look at yourself in the work that’s on the wall,” she said.

The exhibition features art Dionne created from 2016 to now. Working on it was a chance for her to allow Black women’s stories to take up space in art galleries that don’t always show narratives of Black womanhood.

“When I did see Black women being illustrated, it was like that realistic, beautiful style, where you see all of the tonalities of skin and all of that,” she said. “But I’ve never really seen them broken down into the most basic of illustrations,” Dionne said.

She added that working on her exhibition also allowed her to better connect with herself.

“This is an opportunity for me to like, work on myself and heal myself in my relationship with who I am as a Black woman, and also in a fun way, that’s not heavy,” she said.Dionne’s exhibition runs through May 27. It joins an exciting class of Black women-centered art collections currently being shown around the country.

This includes artist Bisa Butler’s quilt collection Titled The World Is Yours. It is currently on display at Jeffrey Deitch in New York City through June 30. 

Her quilts explore numerous stories about the Black community. Including several pieces focused on the stories of Black women. This includes a quilt depicting a vibrant image of the rap group Salt-N-Pepa.

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