173:We can grow or wither

ARTIST
CATALOGUE
PRESS RELEASE

We Can Grow or Wither a solo exhibition by Josie Love Roebuck interprets the experiences of women who have journeyed through life, sometimes hopelessly, then triumphs through it all.

September 4 – October 13, 2024.
Artist Reception, September 4 from 6-8PM.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (New York, NY) LatchKey Gallery is pleased to present, We Can Grow or Wither, Josie Love Roebuck’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. We Can Grow or Wither, will be on view at 173 Henry Street, New York, NY 10002 from September 4 – October 13, 2024. An artist reception will be held on September 4 from 6-8PM.
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Today she turned today years old all over again. In the midst of a torrential storm, she found herself standing still in one place, waiting for someone to come and rescue her. She had been in that space for longer than she could remember; looking outside of herself for reasons why she ended up there in the first place. Drenched in tears, thoughts of deprivation, feelings of loneliness with a lack of self-worth, she rose to a place where she now becomes a testimony that serves the “Highest Good” of other women who also need a gentle nudge forward. Deep within, she found herself; that spirit of courage and strength and direction and all of the attributes that she and we hold hostage deep within the core of our bellies. Yes, those attributes began to gently move her forward. The healing has begun.

Josie Love Roebuck’s new series, We Can Grow or Wither interprets the experiences of women who have journeyed through life, sometimes hopelessly, then triumphs through it all. Using her fiber creations, Roebuck invites the viewer to experience the journeys of these resilient woman who have been interviewed over time by Roebuck and are now seen in a light that celebrates ‘self’. Healing and self-care may be synonymous with one another at times. Many believe that self-care looks like bubble baths, pedicures and a slow walk in the park inhaling the scent of lavender flowers. However, self-care can also be grimy. It may sometimes feel like walking through the trenches of a mud ridden road carrying the heaviest load on one’s shoulders. Healing is not a snap your fingers resolution. It is like a processional that leads one down a path into the unknown. ......and what she knows, no matter how detrimental, it usually becomes a place of comfort. A place where she begins to wither. However, these women have prevailed because they fearlessly have gone through what they had to go through in order to get to the other side of whatever they were experiencing.

The use of hand embroidered stitches on the bodies in each of Roebuck’s tapestries serve as metaphors for the healing of wounded souls both physically and mindfully. Roebuck says, ‘for me, the healing process of opening and closing a wound, further investigates the past and the present, specifically how each fiber is intertwined.” Roebuck also shows through the stitching how one can ‘stitch’ every fiber of themselves back together. Hence revealing their whole being.

The words of Nigerian poet, Ijeoma Umebinyuo , author of Questions for Ada, became the impetus that began the idea for the We Can Grow or Wither series. Umebinyuo’s insightful prose led Roebuck to further investigate the common adversities that affect women globally. She sees herself no different from any of the women that she has mused in her work. In Roebuck‘s notes, I was drawn to texts that she had highlighted in yellow. They are Umebinyuo’s words as Poem No. 5 which Roebuck uses as an invite to the circle gathering of these brave and powerful women who celebrate the journey of choosing to grow because healing is a lifelong process.

“Healing comes in waves
And maybe today
The wave hits the rocks
And that’s okay darling
You are still healing
You are still healing”

We Can Grow or Wither
~thoughts by Dr. Myrah Brown Green


ABOUT THE ARTIST

Josie Love Roebuck (b. 1995) is an interdisciplinary artist from Chattanooga, TN. Her process addresses, hardships and resilience, exclusions and triumphs, and ultimately, the path to healing. Past series have focused on her lived experiences as a biracial woman reflecting on her own childhood to convey stories of her life and that of her family’s.

Roebuck received her M.F.A (2021) at the University of Cincinnati and her B.F.A with an emphasis in drawing and painting, from the University of Georgia (2019). She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Northern Kentucky University.

Roebuck has exhibited at NADA House, NY with LatchKey Gallery, Denny Dimin Gallery, NY, Christie's at Rockefeller Plaza in collaboration with 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. Additional exhibitions include Weston Art Gallery, Cincinnati, OH (2024), Kunstheille Krems Art Museum, Austria (2022) and Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH (2021). Her work is part of numerous private and public collections most notably, A. Boafo, Accra, Ghana, T. El Glaoui, London, UK, Jimenez-Colón Collection, San Juan, Puerto Rico Beth Rudin DeWoody, Florida, A. Shariat, Vienna, Austria, C. Shen, Brooklyn, NY and Espacio Tacuarí, Buenos Aires, Argentina