Kya Lou asks, “What Do You Do ‘Fore It’s Gone?”
Art major Kya Lou investigates the detrimental effects of gentrification in South LA
Los Angeles is a city faced with many instances of gentrification and community distruption. Through mediums of audio, text, visual and textiles, this Art major seeks to document majority black neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles as she experiences them, before the disruptive force of development invokes great change. She poses the question through the exhibition's title, "What Do You Do 'fore It's Gone?"
"Imagine your childhood home. Imagine the street on which you and your family live. Imagine your neighbors. Imagine your community, the familiarity and warmth fostered from years of daily interaction. Now, imagine that taken away from you.It is a devastating reality for several inner-city communities around Los Angeles, where gentrification transforms the cultural face and value of predominately Black and Latino neighborhoods for the sake of capital. UCLA art major Kya Lou’s exhibit “What Do You Do ‘fore It’s Gone?” examines the space between the settlement and upheaval of historically Black neighborhoods in South Los Angeles. Through use of audio, text, video, photography and textiles, Kya Lou foregrounds the concerns of citizens whose voices often go neglected, with the goal of fostering dialogue about the meaning of community. With “What Do You Do ‘fore It’s Gone?” Kya Lou creates space for an issue that concerns the loss of space.
I sat down with Kya Lou to discuss the exhibit, the process, and her inspirations:
Can you explain your process?
I’m very private. I like to work in privacy, on my laptop, in the comfort of my home. But I can also work in a Lyft ride, or at a coffee shop. I don’t really work with other people. I don’t ask a lot of people for input, like “What do you think of this?” and then go and make those changes. I’m very independent when it comes to my work, and I’m pretty comfortable with that. I listen to what other people have to say about my work…I’m still influenced by what everybody else is saying, but at the same time, when it comes to the actual creation of the work, I’m very private about it. There’s a lot of stuff that I don’t share, for months, even a year. I like to take as much time with the piece as I can, and pay attention to every single detail and aspect of the piece. Like, I really wanna know it like the back of my own hand, and to understand like, how did I even get to this piece?"— Randy James, Apr. 22, 2017
Read the full article at the Fem Magazine website.