Michaela Bridgemohan
“Oleaginous duppy: alternate paths of connection through immaterial to material making” is a support paper that explores the multiplicity and multi-dimensionality embedded in Black diasporic identity through ontological Caribbean folk being, duppy, who was transmitted to me through my father. As an individual who belongs to two different groups — Jamaican and Australian — while occupying in Canada, I explore how duppy’s corporal nature becomes an inspiration to hybrid, liminal sensibilities.
I weave personal anecdotes with Caribbean scholars Stuart Hall and Edouard Glissant’s literary works to unpack the ambivalent relations associated with duppy. This autoethnographic approach locates myself into these histories and connections that are necessary to reveal duppy as an embodiment, tethered to forbidden realms of “Other,” a non-essentialist and spiritually ‘taboo.’ Scholars Charmaine A. Nelson, Macarena Gomez-Barris, Kathrine McKittrick, Ralina L. Joseph, and Montré Aza Missouri and authors Dionne Brand, Erna Brodber, all contribute to this unpacking.
Transitioning from immaterial legacies to material relations, I refer to culturally informed cooking and grooming practices as ways of making that induce cultural sustenance as emergent potentials to manifest duppy. I connect this process to scholar Christina Sharpe’s concept of ‘wake work’ as an evocative reflection of how cultural rituals sustain memories and connect us with our ancestors.
By incorporating my personal experiences in cooking with my father and personal grooming, I employ these relational practices as methodical steps toward creative ritualistic making. By recognizing that consideration for the Land and beings is deeply ingrained in Jamaican customs, the artistic production with Indigo and wood is discussed as more than material mediums, but as material beings, who I collaborate with. To imbue wood with Indigo transfigures their surface as more than a singular entity. The thesis exhibition and the support paper are what I see as an heirloom of these discourses and concepts.
To
grandma (Daphne)
coco
catla
uncle Sandy
The creative research and artworks produced here could not have materialized without the expertise, generous support, and patience of my supervisor Tania Willard. Thank you, Tania, for always encouraging me to find my voice through material making and seeking relational bonds with people, beings, non-beings, and the Land. I am also sincerely blessed to have a powerhouse of a committee, Renay Egami and Samuel Roy-Bois. Thank you both for your enthusiasm and wisdom. The scope of this work wouldn’t exist without your insights and critiques. Also, thank you, Nancy Holmes, for your guidance and support.
I also extend special thanks to Christine Howard, Dr. Bonaventure Ndikung, Vanessa Brown, and Cheryl L’Hirondelle for sharing their knowledges and experience.
I also want to thank Philip Wyness, Kaila Kalinocka, and Michael Doerksen for always being receptive to my—sometimes odd—sculptural ideas. A special thank you to Philip, who guided me throughout the year, challenged me and allowed me to shadow him during the making process. I am very thankful for your keen eye and humour.
Thank you, FCCS, for graciously awarding me the Graduate Dean’s Thesis Fellowship and Graduate Student Research Award, which ultimately influenced the production of this creative research.
A special thank you to all the people I love and more: Andrea Routley, whose love and generous support met with no end and was only stoked by the creative intensity we share. Thank you for being my friend who is always open and supportive of whatever creative idea or project I come up with and making it a reality. Also, a special thank you to Natasha, Maura, Scott, Brittany, Xiao Xuan, and Eva for the friendship, wisdom, company, love, and generosity. Thank you to long-time friend Hannah McIntyre for our shared nights decoding Gilroy’s text, practicing presentations, and experiencing life together. Another special thank you to Lauren Brown—who always pushed me to go above and beyond and to never give up on art and justice. Without you, my soul sister, I wouldn’t be here—lastly, tender gratitude to Tim for holding space for authenticity, creativity, love, and empathy.
I want to extend my most profound appreciation and love to my parents and extend family. Mum, Dad, my stepparents Bryan and Doris. Thank you, Dad, for understanding my nature and supporting my pursuit in this artistic study as to reconnect with Grandma and family. Thank you to my siblings: Tina, our family historian, who’s been by my side throughout this experience and inspired me to seek and speak truths. Rebecca, for accompanying me throughout this journey and Daniel for matching my energy.
I must acknowledge and thank the artists, scholars, and activists cited in this paper who’ve paved the way for emerging artists like myself to challenge and create through intersectional, relational, and decolonial praxis. I give thanks to the sistren who share the Caribbean diaspora space with me. This paper is for you.
A thank you to the Land for holding my family, loved ones, and dearly departed. A special thank you to the Syilx (Okanagan) People and their ancestors for caretaking these lands for a time immemorable.