IREASHIA

This article is published as part of Envisioning Justice, a 19-month initiative presented by Illinois Humanities that looks into how Chicagoans and Chicago artists respond to the impact of incarceration in local communities and how the arts and humanities are used to devise strategies for lessening this impact. Originally published by Sixty Inches from Center on December 7, 2018.

This article is published as part of Envisioning Justice, a 19-month initiative presented by Illinois Humanities that looks into how Chicagoans and Chicago artists respond to the impact of incarceration in local communities and how the arts and humanities are used to devise strategies for lessening this impact. Published originally by Sixty Inches from Center on October 29, 2018.

This article is published as part of Envisioning Justice, a 19-month initiative presented by Illinois Humanities that looks into how Chicagoans and Chicago artists respond to the impact of incarceration in local communities and how the arts and humanities are used to devise strategies for lessening this impact. Originally published by Sixty Inches from Center on September 25, 2018.

This article is published as part of Envisioning Justice, a 19-month initiative presented by Illinois Humanities that looks into how Chicagoans and Chicago artists respond to the impact of incarceration in local communities and how the arts and humanities are used to devise strategies for lessening this impact. Published by Sixty Inches from Center on September 18, 2018.

This article is published as part of Envisioning Justice, a 19-month initiative presented by Illinois Humanities that looks into how Chicagoans and Chicago artists respond to the the impact of incarceration in local communities and how the arts and humanities are used to devise strategies for lessening this impact. Published by Sixty Inches from Center on September 10, 2018.

On June 23rd, Ireashia Monét documented the Chicago Dyke March post-rally celebration.

Ireashia Monét created portraits of over 50 people who stopped by the Juneteenth Black Lunch Table workshop at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago on June 19th, 2018.

Documentation by Ireashia Monét of the exhibition opening, panel and reception for "Take Back the Fight: Resisting Sexual Violence from the Ground Up" at Pop Up Just Art (PUJA) Gallery, 1344 S. Halsted on April 5, 2018.

On June 9th, Ireashia Monét photographed a day of healing sessions, craft workshops, and teach-ins at the Chicago Free Black Women’s Library.

Resist (2016) is a short video of myself utilizing body movement as a form of resistance with Lucille Clifton reciting her poem, "Won't You Celebrate With Me." 

Sweetness (2016) is a snippet from a larger project, The Pearls My Mother Gave Me. In the film, my grandmother is braiding my hair in my Nana's yard in Trenton, SC. The main intention was to highlight and magnify the simple acts of love which often go overlooked. 

Grandma's Wisdom is a visual documentation of the healing properties of the rural south and the process of understanding my maternal family history. The result is a raw and honest body of work that simultaneously celebrates and examines the complexity of motherhood, black femininity, and an intrinsic fight toward liberation.

Ireashia Monét, "EBB&FLOW," 2015 An experimental film that depicts the ebb and flow of depression and anxiety. "Ebb&Flow" is a personal piece that showcases Monét's endurance through "dark and blurry" days toward the light. Through body movement and moving images the short works as a visual snapshot into the mind of a young Black woman that does not "struggle" with mental illnesses, but is overcoming them.

A 2015 collaboration between Ireashia Monét and Viktor Le

Performance and Installation: Viktor Le
Cinematography and Direction: Ireashia Monét