LaNia Sproles: Objects of Affection

Through her collages, paintings and drawings, LaNia Sproles creates spaces for representing Black femme desire and worlds wherein sex, sexuality and human expressions of self are not bound by the repressive limitations imposed by normative culture. Drawing inspiration from queer and feminist theory, Sproles depicts figures in mostly private personal spaces engaged in various modes of intimate self-display and sexual play. Despite the humor and seeming light-heartedness of many of these images, running throughout Sproles' body of work is an implicit, acknowledged relationship between trauma and the construction of personal identity.