Masterpieces Unveiled: An Art Auction Event
Seraiah Woods has been creating all of her life.
The 21-year-old Miami native calls it “making utilitarian art,” as she has painted, drawn, and built projects with her hands to represent her love for the earth, outer space the cycles that appear in her work.
“I feel inspired by the earth because the earth created these gemstones that I’m working with they came straight from the earth that we stand on,” said Woods, who makes jewelry as the founder of Luminncary Healing. “The spiral to me represents time cycles, earth cycles, and cycles of the moon and the sun, I like to incorporate all of that into my jewelry and that’s something that I’ve built over time.”
Woods was one of several people who attended the latest event by Embro, where J. Vaughn and photographer Alyssia Deanne hosted a creative hub for Black artists and designers. September 28, 2023 at The Artist Bloc, Embro held an artist auction and vendor pop-up, where people could auction for art pieces and shop around with clothing designers and business owners.
Multiple vendors attended the event, including WeLovette and art by Khaliyah Hope, which surged with creativity. There was a great amount of art, clothing, jewelry, and more available to the public. There was also music by DJ Malx and an open bar for guests and auctioneers.
“I like all the vendors outside selling all of their clothes, and it’s nice to see everybody showing off their art,” said Talia Manning about the assortment of vendors. Dorian Jackson also attended the event and loved how the event created a space for like-minded creatives to display their work. “I really like the energy of the creatives here in one space,” Jackson said. “I think it’s really cool to see everyone’s work.”
Taylor Lovette, a 19-year-old from Rocky Mount and the founder and owner of the clothing brand WeLovette, said she started creating at the age of nine.
“I started creating my clothing brand when I was a sophomore in high school so about four years ago,” Lovette said. “I always wanted to be a fashion designer as I grew up so people were asking me in high school to start making clothes and it started turning into a business.”
Lovette gets her inspiration from things all around her but more recently North Carolina A&T and its student body as well as campus. She feels that her brand is unique and fluid and changes with her ever-changing sense of style.
“So every brand has its own style but my brand's style is what I would wear. I don’t sell anything that I wouldn’t wear myself so it's really just the aesthetic I’m feeling at that point in my life,” said Lovette.
Clothing and jewelry weren't the sole expressions of art at the event. Pieces by artist Khaliyah Hope (Khaliyah Maxwell) could be found on display. Hope is an artist from Chicago and her art represents that, Hope explains how her art reflects her as well as her environment as well as her free spirit.
“My art style is a mix of feminine and masculine energy that I both portray. It’s a little bit of free flow and it’s also very [deep]. It’s a mix of my own creativity and imagination,” said Hope. She is also a creator who has been practicing her craft for some time. She started at 13 year old and her love and passion for art has strengthened tremendously. “I started off as a face painter, [and] by my junior year of high school I got into canvas work and it basically took off from there. Going into college I started taking myself seriously and I started to find my own creative style” said Hope.
Visuals by Striker Studios
This event was more than a camaraderie to the success of different artist from different backgrounds that are coming up in the creative community. Students and locals should always have a place where they can continue to collaborate and see each others projects on a level where everyone can grow and learn from each other. And that’s exactly what happened at the Artist Bloc. To find more information about events like this, stay up to date with @EmbroInd on Instagram.