Picturing theory: Nicole Awai’s black ooze as post-diaspora expression

Abstract

ABSTRACT Given contexts of globalization and transnationalism, and calls within the academe for new vocabularies to describe contemporary migrations and encounters, this article looks to the visual arts in its proposal of a lexicon for articulating mobilities and self-fashioning. In its consideration of a post-diaspora theory, the article lays a foundation for its argument by putting the ideas of philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre in dialog with the work of Trinidadian-born, US-based contemporary artist Nicole Awai, specifically the artworks in which she attends to the notion of a black ooze. Rather than dislocation and disjuncture, the article posits the idea of the viscous or the ooze as a symbol of diverse affiliations and nuanced mobilities. Furthermore, the ooze is advanced as a means of understanding post-diaspora in gendered terms. The article asks: what forms of expression are available to reconfigure identities as post-diasporic? It argues that Nicole Awai’s work is one such expression.