Diedrick Brackens
Diedrick Brackens
Brackens incorporates West African weaving techniques, including stripes from kente cloth while Southern folk art and ancient mythic figures like Orpheus and Hercules inspire the bare silhouettes.
While often based on photographs or drawings of the artist himself, the silhouettes offer an ambiguity that allows viewers the chance to interpret and project their own narratives onto the figure.
They’re universal offerings of beauty and transformation, paying tribute to those that came before us.
For Diedrick Brackens, it was his first day of weaving class when an undergraduate at the University of North Texas in Denton that set the cogs into motion.
Walking into the classroom, Brackens became immediately transfixed by the looms and colour-coded cabinets of yarn. Since that day in 2008, he has crafted a practice of vibrant cotton tapestries investigating Black and queer identity in the context of America’s South.
It was here that much of his family settled and where he would spend his summers. Weft by weft, the Los Angeles-based artist uses cotton yarn, which he hand dyes.
For Diedrick Brackens, it was his first day of weaving class when an undergraduate at the University of North Texas in Denton that set the cogs into motion.
Walking into the classroom, Brackens became immediately transfixed by the looms and colour-coded cabinets of yarn. Since that day in 2008, he has crafted a practice of vibrant cotton tapestries investigating Black and queer identity in the context of America’s South.
It was here that much of his family settled and where he would spend his summers. Weft by weft, the Los Angeles-based artist uses cotton yarn, which he hand dyes.
Featured Work
The First Age
2024
The First Age
Diedrick Brackens
2024
114 x 102cm
Cotton and acrylic yarn
