Black History Month exhibition at Tanya Weddemire Gallery
Tanya Weddemire Gallery in Brooklyn presents “Making Something Out of Nothing,” a Black History Month group exhibition curated by Tatianna Mack opening Sunday February 1, 2026. The exhibition brings together the work of Kaima Marie Akarue, Tyreek Morrison, Nia Winslow, and Candace Caston, whose practices coalesce through collaging worlds shaped by lived experience, memory, and visual expression.
In historical context, Black people are no strangers to building enduring foundations and richly layered societies designed to stand the test of time. Through griots, oral historians and cultural stewards’ memories were passed from generation to generation, ensuring that each lineage could recall who they were and from whom they descended. Legacy functioned not as an afterthought, but as a guiding principle, foregrounding the infinite possibilities each generation was empowered to bring forth. This continuity was violently disrupted by oppressive regimes and colonizing forces that sought not only land and labor, but the erasure of memory, structure, and self-determination.
“Making Something Out of Nothing” positions collage as both a tactile and conceptual methodology, one that mirrors this fractured yet enduring lineage. The exhibition foregrounds process as much as outcome, honoring the quiet moments of experimentation, survival, and persistence that often precede visible success. Much like a seed germinating beneath the soil before giving way to the foliage that breaks through the earth’s surface, creation here is revealed as a meticulous and awe-inspiring science.
“This show highlights emerging Black and Brown artists from the African Diaspora who transform lived experience, memory, and culture into powerful works of art,” Mack said. “Through this exhibition, I continue my commitment to advocacy, representation, and creating space for stories that deserve to be seen, valued, and collected.”
Each artist, Kaima Marie Akarue, Tyreek Morrison, Nia Winslow, and Candice Caston, work primely with existing photographs, vintage paper and visual archives; they forage through remnants of personal and collective history, dissecting, reconfiguring, and recrafting them into contemporary narratives. Through the physical act of collage, fragments of the past are mapped onto the present, forming new visual languages that speak to the Black experience with familiarity, intimacy, and deep resonance. The works on view challenge conventional notions of value and origin, inviting viewers to consider what it means to build something lasting from fragments, memory, and intention.
Kaima Marie Akarue is the daughter of a Nigerian immigrant and a white mother. She explores identity through collage, focusing on urbanism, capitalism, and erased narratives. Kaima constructs layered environments that challenge viewers to reflect on identity, memory, and the spaces we inhabit and often overlook. Her work preserves personal and collective histories, reimagining memory and place.
She has exhibited nationally at institutions like the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, earning accolades such as the 2024 Jones Artist Award and the Carol Crow Fellowship.
She received her MFA from the University of Houston in 2025 and recently finished her residency at Black Rock Senegal.
Candace Caston is a collagist originating from New Orleans, Louisiana, currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia where she earned her BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. In her work, she uses primarily paper, and water-based media to explore the memory of place.
Candace has most recently exhibited at The Atlanta Contemporary, The Goat Farm, UTA Artist Space, Tennessee Gallery, Echo Contemporary, and The CICA Museum.
Tyreek Morrison is an Atlanta-based collage artist whose practice transforms scraps of paper and found materials into layered narratives. For Morrison, collage is both medium and metaphor—the fragments mirror the scraps that society has historically left Black men and women to piece together, and through them he reconstructs stories of resilience, culture, and memory.
Raised in Atlanta by a family immersed in art and culture, Morrison absorbed influences from fashion, music, and skateboarding, but it is through collage that his voice resonates most clearly. Each work carries texture and rhythm, inviting viewers to reflect not only on his personal journey but also on the shared cultural memory his art revives and reimagines.
Nia Winslow, originally from Washington, DC, is a self-taught collage artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Nia draws inspiration from artists including Romare Bearden, Kerry James Marshall, Faith Ringgold, and Jacob Lawrence to illustrate the colorful essences of Black figures in each of her compositions. Using paper as her preferred material, Nia combines the complexities of different textures, cuttings and clippings to illuminate figures, moods and stories.
Deeply inspired by vintage photography depicting Black life, Nia uses her work as an avenue to connect memorialized experiences to modern day life.
Tatianna Mack is the Founder of The Art of Tati, Art Liaison at Tanya Weddemire Gallery, and a curator. She builds meaningful connections between artists, collectors, and community while advocating for diversity and intersectionality within art spaces.
In 2019, she launched The Art of Tati to amplify underrepresented voices and has since moderated cultural conversations and led community initiatives with organizations including Black Girls in Art Spaces, A Place Called Home, and Industry City. In February 2025, she will made her curatorial debut with “I Got a Story to Tell”, an all-women exhibition inspired by a conversation with her grandmother.
About Tanya Weddemire Gallery
The Tanya Weddemire Gallery is a Brooklyn-based art gallery that thrives from being a vital source and representation of the arts. It’s a premier art destination dedicated to showcasing the work of emerging established artists. Its mission is to deepen the value and importance of art by enriching each person’s perspective on life explorations through exhibits.
Located at Industry City Building 2: 254 36th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11232.
