Multimedia artist Rafia Santana, 25, has given new meaning to the “selfie.” Webster dictionary will tell you that a “selfie” is simply an image taken of one’s self, but Santana’s SELFiE exhibition on display at Brooklyn’s Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) shows that it is much more.
Watch the up-and-coming artist redefine the meaning of selfie:
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Santana has combined images of herself with graphically created backgrounds and soundscapes to take viewers on a “journey of her self-care methods.” Each image is accompanied by one of Santana’s original songs because as she says, “visuals and music speak to eachother.” The images reflect the exploration of her blackness, feminity and mental health, Santana said. Suffering from anxiety and depression as a result of being a young black woman, she uses art as her outlet.
“Anybody who thinks selfies are only vain wants to reduce the importance of a human being. I am not sure where the judgment comes from,”she said in an interview with the Huffington Post. “We should all be reflective of ourselves whether we are in a good place or bad place.”
“Selfies help to bring us out of a bad place to uplift ourselves and connect with others.”
RAFiA SANTANA, PAiNT ME PUKiNG (2014)
RAFiA SANTANA, PAiNT ME PUKiNG (2014)
RAFiA SANTANA, RAFiA (Above), 2014
SELFiE is on view in the window gallery of the MoCADA on South Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn until September 27, 2015.
