Yahfa Guerra Talks Black-Caribbean Legacy and Culture in Art
By Lydia Gokey, gallery assistant of Wild Goose Creative
Yahfa Guerra is a contemporary fine artist based in Columbus who depicts the realm of realism and surrealism as it relates to her self identity as a Caribbean woman. She’s showing her collection, Nebulous Origins, at Wild Goose Creative’s April Wild Gallery, opening April 11.
Lydia: Yahfa, where do you get your artistic inspiration from?
Yahfa: My work is an homage to my ancestors, culture and native land. All to deliver the message, “we are still here.”
Lydia: How do you tie in your Caribbean and Black ancestry into your artwork?
Yahfa: I find myself estranged from my lineal homeland of the West Indies, in which the culture has a large focus on familial ties. This idea of ancestry involves more than just the past; it’s also seen as a guide to your present and future. My art depicts vortexes of color that allude to a sense of oblivion, merging reality with abstract patterns, and interesting texture. Yet in the forefront, portraiture remains. By juxtaposing my culture of Haiti, Trinidad and the Black experience, I can provide a new perspective of ancestral honoring through a modern lens. These details become vital to my art process, where context informs all stories.
Lydia: What do you want others to know when they view your portraits, especially with the deep and thought-provoking background that comes from it?
Yahfa: I believe it’s not enough to create art – you have to take the time to make it intentional. The stories of my predecessors are what I wish to tell, but I live in the aftermath of rewritten and forgotten history. To remedy this disconnection my art serves as a vessel to reimagine my people back into history and provide a stage in which their essence is memorialized.
Lydia: What’s currently on your playlist?
Yahfa: I’m currently stuck in the 90s-2010s era of music. I love neo soul, R&B, and reggae. It’s always such a vibe. Lately I’ve had Erykah Badu’s discography on replay. It’s always an insightful and inspiring experience. With all of my music I just want to create soulful yet chill vibes.
Lydia: What do you do to relax or unwind?
Yahfa: When it’s time to unwind I like to set up some ambience for myself. I’ll deep clean the day before to prepare for some intense relaxation. I make sure there are plenty of snacks and a candle that smells like a bakery. After all of that is set up, I love to binge-read supernatural fantasy books or binge watch TV series on my projector. It’s like being in my own personal movie theater. I quickly forget what I’m stressed about.
Lydia: What’s your favorite thing about Columbus?
Yahfa: In the whole of Ohio, Columbus is like an uncut gem. There are flaws but the beauty shines brighter. We have wonderful access to city life, and the natural world. I remember being a kid exploring the woods with my family and running across wildlife, creeks and trees that look like they could tell a story. Columbus is a place where you can see remnants of the past and the present living in harmony. I think it’s a truly beautiful experience to know that the bones of the city were forged from the same story-telling trees, to the cobblestone roads that merge into black top, even into the upcycled buildings that now host mom and pop cafes. It’s a city that is always changing but somehow always stays the same.
You can find Yahfa’s collection, Nebulous Origins, and others at Wild Goose Creative’s April Wild Gallery, opening during Franklinton Friday on April 11 at 7 p.m.
This article is part of a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council as part of the Art Makes Columbus campaign. Explore a calendar of events, public art database and artist stories at columbusmakesart.com. To learn more about GCAC grants visit gcac.org.