Through her collages, paintings and drawings, LaNia Sproles creates spaces for representing Black femme desire and worlds wherein sex, sexuality and human expressions of self are not bound by the repressive limitations imposed by normative culture. Drawing inspiration from queer and feminist theory, Sproles depicts figures in mostly private personal spaces engaged in various modes of intimate self-display and sexual play. Despite the humor and seeming light-heartedness of many of these images, running throughout Sproles' body of work is an implicit, acknowledged relationship between trauma and the construction of personal identity.
Q&A with LaNia Sproles, conducted by gallery director Claudine Isé
CI: Your imagery is so vibrant – often in terms of color and composition, but also in terms of the sexual life force that charges so much of your imagery. Your collages, drawings and paintings joyously embrace the beauty of all types of bodies and gender identities and feel very much positioned against the shame that American culture and right-wing politics uses to enforce oppressive, and deeply traumatic, normative ideas. I’m curious if you personally have always felt comfortable with depictions of sex and sexual play, or is this something that you have actively come to terms with through the process of making your work?
LS: This is a fantastic question! I am discovering that sexual play can be an avenue for replenishment or even a way to deeply honor yourself. I really see tuning in to our deepest sexual appetites reflects the power of desire, or our pursuit of desire. It looks and feels very different for everyone. I didn’t grow up in a household or environment where sex or provocativeness was acceptable. There was a lot of shame around authenticity, so I definitely feel that I wasn’t always comfortable with depictions of sex and sexual play. I didn’t come out as queer until my early twenties, so naturally It has taken me a long time to grow into a role where I see that being integral to my practice. I see my work evolving as I evolve personally, it functions like a mirror reflecting back the things I’ve picked up along the way.
How do you approach the beginning of a composition – do you work from a photograph, from a memory of something, from sketching…?
Most compositions are a conglomerate--a mix of memory, sketching and photographic references. But they all work together in the context of catharsis. Ultimately things come together like a collage at first, and then I find ways to balance things out in a composition texturally. Usually, I come across an interesting concept or pose through my exposure to social and literary media and genuinely become obsessed with said idea or figurative pose. The poses are derived mainly from models in fashion editorials, Instagram, etc. I'm deeply intrigued by body language and how it can be a tool in revealing the inner workings of someone in front of me, and so I use that as a way to convey the structure of each figure I render in my work.
To what extent does autobiography, and an autobiographical impulse, play a role in your current work? I’m thinking about the ways in which autobiography and mythology can intersect, and the whys and hows of that – and I also wonder if viewing one’s life, one’s joys and struggles, in a self-mythologizing way, is something you see as empowering?
I definitely treat my work like a personal diary-documenting things as life moves on and all those who have a place in my life as well. I think I gravitate towards this method for many reasons having to do with my upbringing. I wasn’t allowed the privilege of privacy and I wasn’t allowed to feel and express myself complexly. I remember writing in notebooks or writing stories and making drawings in secret, playing out fantasies and expelling my feelings. It’s how I coped with the emotional neglect I endured growing up. I feel as though in a way I was trying to validate what I actually felt and thought because of the constant intimidation and gaslighting I was being put through. So self-mythologizing in a way allows me to not internalize any doubt about my experiences and feelings.
The people represented in your work are often friends, people in your life, and
sometimes you yourself. Can you talk a bit about who and what the figures in your
compositions mean to you?
The people I depict in my work are some of my most intimate relationships, some of those people are no longer in my life anymore but I think that’s sort of the beauty of it. I don’t get to decide when these people have outgrown our connection but I get to honor what they gave me. Over time I’ve grown to understand my work in a way for me to safely explore nostalgic representations of these people. In short, I don’t want to forget who genuinely loved me. I grew up in an emotionally abusive household so I have found that it is in my nature to feel that love is scarce and unobtainable. The loved ones I depict remind me that I am capable of passionate and genuine connection and that I have a right to be deeply loved. It is through my friendships and chosen family where I feel I can be my softest and my strongest self. By making self-portraits I find that I can stay committed to myself the way I can stay committed to my loved ones.
You’ve mentioned to me that you’ve been really interested in Greek mythology lately, and figures like Cerberus and the Three Graces (daughters of Zeus) show up in your most recent work. What is it about Greek mythology that interests you? I’m curious, because your own work engages in a fair amount of mythic world-building – do you see parallels there?
Quite frankly, in part from living in a traumatized body, I am conditioned to thrive on delusion. So fantasy and delusion help me cope with the reality of the imperfections of life and humanity. I really enjoy the depth and layers of Greek lore that lead to an ultimate lesson or assist in rationalizing complex thoughts and feelings. I find a lot of similarities in the way that I revel in the epic details of my loved ones’ lives and humanness the same way ancient mythology appeals to me. I really appreciate the way you are able to take a deep dive into a character’s disposition like a deep dive into lore. I enjoy the intricacies of what makes a person a person, and adding a theatrical flair feels like storytelling for me.
Continuing on the topic of world-building, your works portray scenes and moments wherein people engage in erotic self-display sometimes individually and sometimes in groups. What interests me is the fact that often the figures depicted are looking back at the viewer or directly at the viewer – it’s an acknowledgement that they are being looked at as the subject of our gaze and in so doing, I think, an assertion of their powerto *hold* our gaze. Can you talk a bit about how you see the acts of looking and being looked at playing out in your work? I’m thinking particularly about your works “Shorewood Ethnics” and “Tight and Bites at Night.”
I think overall I am attracted to how power can look even embodied through a marginalized body. I feel even the kindest people are capable of doing the most heinous things and that in itself intrigues me! How we utilize power can tell us so much about who a person is. I also often think of the various portraits I've been exposed to institutionally. What comes to mind are the drab and flat expressions of white models in Old Master paintings. They lack personality and vibrancy and most importantly, conviction. I feel as though it is rare to admire someone’s essence without trying to devour them--that to me is oppressive. I think that is a skill that we could all learn, holding things lightly but tenderly, allowing people to exist, assert themselves freely and to acknowledge their worth all in one breath.
The scenes you depict are often overtly sexual in nature but they can also be silly and funny too. And then other works have an altogether different tone, and seem to be much more about moments of isolation, self-reflection, and, perhaps even fear or depression. How do you think about the different emotions and affects that a drawing may carry? Do you start out with an idea of making a piece that leans more towards one type of emotional state or another, or does that only come out later, through the process of drawing and painting?
It’s really a mix of things. At times I can easily lean into one kind of tone with certain pieces naturally and sometimes it comes to me much later in the process. I am trying to find a balance to it all mainly because overall my goal is to see someone clearly, and by clearly I mean authentically. But one thing I am particular about is choosing who will embody what pose and tone. That is the most crucial part in discerning the direction of a piece. I feel many kinds of people I love have various capabilities, strengths and weaknesses like me, and can embody various displays of themselves.
Artist's Bio:
LaNia Sproles lives and works in the segregated city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she graduated with a BFA from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2017. Her body of work spans several disciplines including printmaking, drawing, and collage. The philosophies of self-perception, queer and feminist theories, and inherent racial dogmas are essential to her work. Sproles examine the works of feminist artists and writers such as Octavia Butler, Kara Walker, and Rebecca Morgan. In 2020, she completed her year as a 2019 Mary L. Nohl fellow, continued her teaching as artist-in-residence at the Lynden Sculpture Garden in Milwaukee, and guest curated an exhibition hosted by NADA art fair with Green Gallery. Recently, she created an illustration of Art Preserve artists for the west wall in the Social STUDIO.
