Yvonne Osei’s “Here to Stay” Series

Coming from a culture where textiles convey stories, these patterns play a pivotal role in making the unfamiliar feel familiar. Osei not only introduced her Ghanaian aesthetic sensibility through textiles and clothing to redefine and refresh visitors’ experiences of the park but also gave Western artwork a West African appearance by incorporating photographs of the art into her textiles. Through her textiles, Osei extends the essence of her Ghanaian cultural sensibilities across the Atlantic Ocean to the Midwest, offering a taste of home to her new community.

Expanding on the concept of inserting herself into the park’s landscape and collection, making them more relatable to her and those who share her background, Osei invited three other black women to embody her interpretations of the park. She adorned them in jackets and immersed them in environments featuring original textile designs she crafted. At the intersection of fashion and art, these beautiful women are presented hyperaware of their presence in exaggerated modelesque poses with unapologetic gazes. In “Here to Stay,” black women are depicted as assertive and taking up space, radiating confidence in their attire and skin.