Barbara Cheives and Kianga Jinaki, fiber artists and friends, will be sharing their excitement and lives of cultural activism as well as their love of artistic creativity.
Barbara Cheives says of her work, "I learned to sew as a teenager and loved making clothes for myself and my friends. In what seems like a former life, I obtained a degree in Fashion Buying & Merchandising and worked in the garment district for over 10 years. Most of those years were spent buying and selling textiles. When I left New York, I left that world behind until a Japanese American friend convinced me to work with him at the Houston Quilt Festival where he was selling vintage kimono to quilters….I was hooked.
I have a natural affinity for the African culture and with a new appreciation for the garments, art and culture of Japan, Afrasia was born. The colors and textures of the fabrics work well together to form a unique marriage of cultures that preserves vintage Japanese Kimono and Obi blended with modern African fabric, African inspired trims, beads, and ‘found’ items. Call it multi-cultural recycling.
I spend my days as a consultant working to bridge the gap between cultures and I continue that work through my art. You never know where life will take you. Whenever I’m asked how I got into race relations and diversity, I have a simple answer – GOD. I did not choose my current career, it chose me. The beauty of it is that now I have the best of both of my worlds. I can satisfy my social justice side through my work and my love of fabric and color through my art.”
Kianga says: “My media of choice are collage, dolls, & quilts. When it is enhancing to what I am creating, the written word is also incorporated. The influences of the African diaspora which were prevalent as I grew up in Baltimore, not only shaped me but my art. The love, honor and respect that I have for my heritage permeates my work. Doll making and quilting appeal to me because they are both multi-media constructions that allow me to indulge my love of working with fabric, fibers, and embellishments.
Starting with the initial idea of a piece I begin collecting the things that I want to incorporate in the final work. As the piece begins to reveal itself I add to or take away until before me is the art piece that I was reaching inside for. The inspiration for my work is everywhere and is funneled thru how I experience, see and feel things. Romare Bearden once said ‘It's not what you see when you looking at a painting, but what you feel.’ In my work I am also striving to get the viewer to connect to a feeling, to deliver a message. Sometimes that message is delivered as a whisper and sometimes I'm yelling at the top of my lungs.”
Barbara Cheives is the President and CEO of Converge & Associates Consulting, specializing in race and ethnic relations consulting and Cultural Competency Training. Barbara’s consulting expertise includes law enforcement and public safety; media; education; and corporations. She also served as the first Executive Director of Toward A More Perfect Union in Palm Beach County. TMPU is a non-profit initiative that addresses the critical impact of race and ethnicity in a diverse community.
Additionally, Barbara serves on the National Board of the Institute of Community Peace in Washington, DC. She is Immediate Past President of National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. West Palm Beach Chapter and the Co-Chair of the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church Social Justice Ministry. Barbara is an alumna of Leadership Palm Beach County, from the Class of 2002. Barbara is a native New Yorker who has called West Palm Beach home since 1990.
Kianga is originally from Baltimore, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Community Mental Health from Morgan State University. In addition to being an artist, she is a licensed massage therapist and yoga teacher, and the mother of 4 adult children. She is a teaching artist for the Norton Museum of Art's P.A.C.E. program, and resides in West Palm Beach.
