Work
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #13 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 31 x 20 x 20 inches
Installation at Untitled Art Fair 2020
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #13 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 31 x 20 x 20 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #13 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 31 x 20 x 20 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #13 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 31 x 20 x 20 inches
Untitled Art Fair 2020
Markus Linnenbrink / QUESTIONMARKSLINGERANDOBJECTSFALLDOWN / 2019 / epoxy resin on wood / 24 x 96 inches
RAMEKON O’ARWISTERS / Cheesecake #13 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 31 x 20 x 20 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #13 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 31 x 20 x 20 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #13 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 31 x 20 x 20 inches
RAMEKON O’ARWISTERS / Cheesecake #13 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 31 x 20 mx 20 inches
Markus Linnenbrink / GIVEMEABEAUTIFULAUDIENCE / 2019 / epoxy resin on wood / 36 x 48 inches
DEMETRI BROXTON / Worth the Weight / 2019-20 / Everlast gloves, cowrie shells, 24K gold Japanese delica beads, Czech seed beads, redwood, frankincense, cotton & nylon thread, brass nails, mirrors, stainless steel chain and hardware
Inspired by the opening track of Jidenna’s 85 to Africa and Saidiya Hartman’s Lose Your Mother, Worth the Weight brings together several key ideas central to Broxton’s body of work. Cowrie shells were one of the key forms of currency used to purchase enslaved Africans during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. According to Hartman’s research, a strong male could be purchased for approximately 1 pound of cowrie shells for every 13 pound of the man’s body weight. Worth the Weight brings together the history of boxing which has been heavily tied into concepts of race and racial superiority ever since Jack Johnson became the first Black heavyweight champion of the world in 1908. The boxing gloves are embellished with cowrie shells and cascade down to a larger pile of 17 pounds of cowrie shells — corresponding to the purchase amount for the average weight of modern heavyweight boxers.
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #14 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 29 x 20 x 18 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #14 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 29 x 20 x 18 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #14 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 29 x 20 x 18 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #14 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 29 x 20 x 18 inches
Untitled Art Fair 2020
MARKUS LINNENBRINK / CONTACTMAGICALBOY / 2019 / epoxy resin on wood / 48 x 48 inches (123.84 cm x 123.84 cm)
RAMEKON O’ARWISTERS / Cheesecake #14 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 29 x 20 mx 18 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #14 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 29 x 20 x 18 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #14 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 29 x 20 x 18 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #15 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 30 x 18 x 18 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #14 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 29 x 20 x 18 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #14 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 29 x 20 x 18 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #14 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 29 x 20 x 18 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #14 / 2019 / fabric, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program, beads, pins / 29 x 20 x 18 inches
Installation view from Art Toronto 2019
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #10 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 12 x 12 x 13 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #1 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 12 x 12 x 13 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #1 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 12 x 12 x 13 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #1 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 12 x 12 x 13 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #9 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 20 x 11 x 11 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #9 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 20 x 11 x 11 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #9 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 20 x 11 x 11 inches
Installation view from Art Toronto 2019
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #1 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 14 x 14 x 17 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #1 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 14 x 14 x 17 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #1 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 14 x 14 x 17 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #2 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 19 x 17 x 12 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #2 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 19 x 17 x 12 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #2 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 19 x 17 x 12 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #3 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 15 x 12 x 8 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #3 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 15 x 12 x 8 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #3 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 15 x 12 x 8 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #8 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 15 x 17 x 15 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #8 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 15 x 17 x 15 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #8 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 15 x 17 x 15 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #4 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 9.5 x 12 x 10 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #4 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 9.5 x 12 x 10 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #4 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 9.5 x 12 x 10 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #6 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 19 x 18 x 12 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #6 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 19 x 18 x 12 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #6 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 19 x 18 x 12 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #5 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 9 x 11 x 10 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #5 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 9 x 11 x 10 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #5 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 9 x 11 x 10 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #7 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 20 x 15 x 11 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #7 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 20 x 15 x 11 inches
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Cheesecake #7 / 2019 / textiles, ceramics from CSULB ceramic program / 20 x 15 x 11 inches
Intallation View of Assembled / 2018
Ramekon O’Arwisters / Mending / 2017 / January 6 – February 10, 2018
Videos
In the Artist’s Studio: Ramekon O’Arwisters
Interview conducted by Demetri Broxton, Director of Education
Growing up in Jim Crow South during the Civil Rights Movement, Ramekon O’Arwisters had a safe haven, quilting with his Grandmother where he was “embraced, important and special.” These early memories prompted his nascent series of unique crocheted/ceramic sculptures titled, Mending. Employing ordinary household, or decorative pottery, broken and discarded, O’Arwisters combined traditional crafts into a dimensional woven tapestry, stripping both cloth and ceramic of their intended function.
BIO
Growing up in Jim Crow South during the Civil Rights Movement, Ramekon O’Arwisters had a safe haven, quilting with his Grandmother where he was “embraced, important and special.” These early memories prompted his nascent series of unique crocheted/ceramic sculptures titled, Mending. Employing ordinary household, or decorative pottery, broken and discarded, O’Arwisters combined traditional crafts into a dimensional woven tapestry, stripping both cloth and ceramic of their intended function.
In his new series of sculptures titled Cheesecake, the works have transformed from something broken, needing mending, to fully determined and self-aware. Being Black and Queer, the full complexity of the moniker Cheesecake, used to objectify an attractive, sexualized man or woman is not lost to O’Arwisters. Instead he embraces it, subverting the demeaning implication in describing his said, “objects”. Combining lacy, embellished fabrics with ceramics contributed by students and faculty from California State University at Long Beach, O’Arwisters sculptural hybrids embody both danger and seduction in his bold ‘coming of age’ works.
Ramekon O’Arwisters is the founder of Crochet Jam, a community arts project infused with folk-art traditions that foster a creative culture in cooperative relationships. Born in Kernersville, North Carolina, O’Arwisters earned a M.Div. from Duke University Divinity School in 1986. He was an artist-in-residence at the de Young Museum, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and the Vermont Studio Center. Grants and Awards include Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue, NY, the San Francisco Foundation and the San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Equity Program. He received the 2014 Eureka Fellow, awarded by the Fleishhacker Foundation in San Francisco. His work has been featured in the LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, 7×7 Magazine, Artnet, and the San Francisco Examiner.