Chantel Walkes creates collages that are like “snapshots of memory” depicting Black joy throughout time

In a time where images from historical archives can be accessed at a click, an appreciation for artists imparting their vision on the past grows. This is true of Chantel Walkes, a multidisciplinary artist born in Canada, and now based in Brooklyn. She is known for her collage works that reckon with Black history both as a personal exploration for her, the collective and eventually the viewer. But what’s most apparent in her work is a flair for time and place, as well as a decisive vision of what it means for Black people to gather together. Be that in churches, house parties, or the high street, she amplifies their presence through a sense of connection.

Chantel’s relationship with art began from a young age, through her mother who instilled in her a sense of creativity, “out of nothing, by means of crafts during my early years in daycare”, she tells us. Throughout her life she has held onto this comfort of creating, through a variety of mediums, and as a means to regulate her emotions and work through her thoughts.

Inspired by a pool of artists throughout the African diaspora, such as Gordon Parks, Malick Sidibé, Carrie Mae Weems, Bisa Butler and Lorna Simpson, it’s clear that she has a reverence for the power that photographic imagery has on recollection and its ability to showcase the times. “I’ve found deep joy in creating collages, or what I like to call, snapshots of memories. The goal is to create art that extracts a beautiful memory of Black joy within the viewer.”