Ah Who Run Dis | Krystle Lemonias

May 2022

This work explores personal and political intersections of power that govern how people interact daily through an immigrant lens. It creates an entry point to consider the impact larger systems have on people from colonized nations. A subject is used to examine access, privilege, misuse, and obstruction to the status quo when one wields power. Each piece reflects the complexity of being resilient through society’s exploitive structure then, using this understanding to get over and ahead for one’s self. What is the cost of resilience? Who really has the power? This body of work shows intimate views of video, installation, prints, and performance.

Krystle Lemonias’ work is grounded in principles of painting, sculpture, and drawing, and features diverse representations of Black immigrant women. This work shows women of the African diaspora as multifaceted individuals with agency, individuals that are documented and undocumented, serving as essential participants to America’s workforce. She uses found materials, patios, printmaking methods, and iconography to stitch together themes with personal narratives. Lemonias was born in Jamaica, in 1989, and is currently working towards her Masters in Fine Arts at University of South Florida, Tampa. She has received several grants and scholarships including: 2020 Art of Protest Grant, 2020 Larsen & Palmer MFA Scholarship, 2020/22 WLP/Ann McKeel Ross Scholarship, 2017 Esther Barsh Scholarship and the 2016 NJCU Presidential Scholarship. https://www.krystlelemonias.com/