Roni Nicole Henderson

RONI NICOLE HENDERSON

Columbia, SC

Some believe that a photograph and film capture a portion of your soul. Centering the movement of the human spirit as it transfers between phases, film, and photography are the perfect media for artist Roni Nicole Henderson. Birth, coming of age and leaving the body, Black cosmetology and beauty as ritual, and the Black body in motion are core to her work. “The Black body as center, alive and yet, changing. Toni Morrison's profound literary Universe is a primary influence on my work, as is the function of storytelling in my family.”

This storytelling, like in many Black families, is nuanced and complicated; exaggerated for effect, impact, or as a reflection of the narrator. Henderson became her own storyteller as a result of her experiences with stories. Light, movement, sound, and place have become tools for sharing stories that are sometimes wild and exaggerated, or gradual and transformative. Henderson’s work expands in the retelling, or viewing, much like stories that are shared over time, revealing more details as we are ready to receive them.

Making work around her personal memories, and exploring ancestral and familial relationships are a means to re-animate and amplify the breakthrough moments in life in hopes of learning something about herself and more about the world.

Work on view