Reclaiming Our Roots: Cultural Reflections by Incarcerated Artists

About the Artists

Jacquavious (he/him)
Hello, my name is Jacquavious (#428667). My name is pronounced Jah-qway-veus. I was born and raised in Southern California in the heart of Los Angeles. I started creating art as a young, curious kid enthralled by everything around me. I used to draw, write stories and I wanted to do everything. My art is inspired by my lived experiences, by my upbringing and the diverse culture of Southern California. I draw inspiration from music, fiction, non-fiction, poetry. Themes and messages I explore have to do with identity, society, politics, capitalism, etc. I am particularly fond of surrealism, animates ordinary objects into my imaginings. My work depends on the particular color of mood I’m feeling at the time of creation.

I want people to tap into their feelings and empathize with their humanity finding connections despite our many differences. I want to express my deepest gratitude for giving me the opportunity to share my inner thoughts and vision with you all. It has been quite some time since I have revisited my inner artist and I am just now making the space to make art again after many long years. Thank you for taking this journey with me. I wish you peace and love.

I invite you to connect with me if you wish. I am open to conversations around the creative process, my personal process and my approach etc.
 

Songkoun Sao (he/him)
Songkoun Sao is incarcerated at Stafford Creek Corrections Center. His developmental years were spent in Washington on the East Side of Tacoma. His parents migrated from Cambodia in the early ‘80s to San Francisco, California where he was born in 1984. He earned his Associates in Applied Science degree from Grays Harbor College. He is currently enrolled in Evergreen State College where he is pursuing his Bachelors in Liberal Arts degree. During his incarceration, he co-founded the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Awareness Group (APICAG-chapter) at SCCC in 2018. He was voted as the former president and vice president for about 6 years. The group focused on growth and development for our community. Resolving all of the issues and obstacles the API communities faced like educational disparities, deportation, lack of resources, cultural identities, etc. He began art and drawing just recently as a way of tapping into his creative side. He did not realize that he had a talent for drawing and is becoming better and better. Now he spends most of his days doing art because it is therapeutic and he wants to leave a legacy behind in his art.

About the Exhibit

Reclaiming Our Roots: Cultural Reflections by Incarcerated Artists highlights the importance and beauty of connecting with one’s culture while incarcerated. Several of the featured artists are members and leaders of cultural awareness groups designed to educate BIPOC prisoners about their cultural identities and promote personal growth and community building. In recent years, policy changes within the Washington State Department of Corrections have severely limited free cultural expression by disallowing peer-led programming and censoring cultural groups’ curricula, events, and activities. 

Having cultural spaces inside where prisoners can find belonging and collective community is a vital lifeline. It keeps them rooted in their identity instead of the labels placed on them by the system and forges invaluable connections with communities outside prison. Cultural art and expression are inextricably linked with cultural education and empowerment that transcends the confines of prison politics. Therefore, the practice of culture — for prisoners — is resistance just as much as it is restoration and liberation. 

Each of the participating artists identified regions and cultures from their ancestry, and staff at the Burke Museum helped them choose a corresponding item from the museum’s Heritage: Arts & Cultures collections. The selected items served as inspiration for the artists to create pieces paying homage to their roots. The featured artworks were inspired by items from Ivory Coast, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Samoa, Mexico, Philippines, and Cambodia, as well as the Echota Cherokee and Blackfeet Nation tribes. Some artists have selected culturally significant creations from past Solidarity Art Collective shows to display alongside their specially curated pieces. 

The exhibit will feature recorded commentary from artists about partnering with the Burke Museum and how the experience impacted their connection to the past. These artists have deep love for their history, their culture, and their people as a whole. There is no greater opportunity for them to express this than the one the Burke Museum has extended through this collaboration. This process of connecting with previously unknown parts of their history has already breathed new life into the movement for cultural preservation behind bars.