Be Yourself explores Blackness, identity, and self-acceptance through a dialogue with Petey Greene’s How to Eat a Watermelon. Combining archival footage with reenactments, the film reclaims the watermelon—a symbol tied to complex histories—as a metaphor for authenticity and resilience.

After discovering a folder of my mother’s poems from the early 2000s, I felt compelled to bring her voice into dialogue with my own. This film, inspired by Carrie Mae Weems’ Kitchen Table Series, explores themes of self-silencing, generational memory, gender roles, marriage, and motherhood.

How does the Black subconscious threaten hegemonic ideals? Adella Rankine, named after Claudia Rankine, represents the tension between internalized colonial influence and self-awareness. Andy Kipling, after Rudyard Kipling, embodies calculated control, using invasive methods disguised as understanding. It seeks to interrogate how decolonization manifests—through rebellion or mere existence.

Inspired by Wait!, a poem written by Teairrah Green in 2023, this film explores how the clock governs us, creating an ever-present anxiety. Coloniality sustains Western dominance through normative values, knowledge, and power structures—time itself being one such construct. It dictates every aspect of our existence, embedding control into daily life.

 Directed by Teairrah Green. 

After the Tone explores memory, family, and time through voicemail recordings, baby photos, and archival footage. At its core, my mother’s voice echoes across time, asking what I want for Christmas as scenes of my toddler self and brother unfold.  Distorted and fragmented imagery mirrors the way memories blur and shift, capturing its beauty.

This project explores blending organic sounds with artificial and unexpected noises. Juxtaposing the familiar with the unfamiliar, it transforms conventional perceptions of the natural world. Visually, it draws from Fauvism’s bold use of color, dynamic compositions, and expressive distortions. By reinterpreting nature through this vivid and altered lens, the project challenges notions of reality and perception.

Now & Forever is a Medical Film that displays the struggles individuals face after their loved one passes. This film is a product of the 2022 24-hour film competition at the Ampersand International Film Festival.

Explore a featured selection of my writing work and photographs below.