Printmaker Organizer Educator
I’m Amanda (she/her/hers), a visual folk artist from Texas who lives and creates in Atlanta, Georgia. I draw on my experiences as a social worker and organizer in healing and anti-violence community justice and transformation to craft visions of activism, joy, and belonging. Cultural folklore, spiritual connections to the earth, and ancestral teachings guide us to survive and thrive together in an evolving world. My approach to art is straightforward; I often begin with shapes and curves that attract my interest. As the images unfold, I develop a narrative around what emerges, tapping into my subconscious. I invite others to use these pieces as an oracle and find their meanings in what they see.
Spadework as a framework
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, spadework is “the hard plain preliminary drudgery in an undertaking.” In organizing, I have learned that it’s not the big actions that lead to sustainable change but the daily intentional work of relationship building, studying, unlearning, connecting intersections, and laying foundations that gets us to where we strive to be in terms of equality and justice.
I feel very similarly about my creative process. In relief printmaking, the spadework is in all the stages before we get to the final piece, not to mention the literal digging into wood and linoleum. I see the connections between my creative life and my political life, and my intentions are to align them more and more.
