Safety Cushion

Naomi Chambers
Safety Cushion,  2018
Vinyl Shower Curtain, Cardboard

“In my work I explore breaking cycles of generational trauma and consider how to create new and just futures for Black families. This piece belongs to a series that explores Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as it relates to Black Americans. What does it mean to achieve self actualization in a country that creates barriers to Black citizens achieving their basic physiological needs? This shower curtain affirms to Black families that they are in a place that is safe for them and for their future.” - Naomi Chambers

Naomi Chambers is a painter and sculptor born in Pittsburgh in 1987. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2009, with a double degree in Studio Arts and Marketing. In 2017, she and her husband worked with a collective of artists to open FlowerHouse, a community art studio and creative space in Wilkinsburg where they offer workshops for the predominantly Black community. In 2018, she had her first solo exhibition, Communal Futures, at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. She is currently Community Liaison with Alisha Wormsley’s Sibyl’s Shrine, a residency for creative mamas.