Verneda Lights' "Gullah Me" Artworks for Sale

Video of the "Gullah Me" Facebook Live virtual art walk, can be viewed on Beaufort Digital Corridor's Facebook page. (Click on link or copy and paste into your browser: https://www.facebook.com/beaufortdigital/videos/247172973615208.) If you have any questions, please send an email to info@gullahme.com, or call: (843) 476-6168. Artist's statement is below.

"Tribal Reality." Self-portrait, photomontage and digital painting printed on vegan leather, 36 x 36 inches. The tapestry version of this art work has sold. This self- portrait shows me, alone, on Columbus Day, 2018, facing my first winter without my parents and brother. Still grieving, but unafraid. My transition from physician to medicine woman (which I like better!), is complete. I wonder, what is next? © 2018, Verneda Lights.

“Portrait of my Father as a Young Man,” is a vintage photo restoration and digital painting. | 15.25 x 18.75 inches (framed) | This photo restoration and digital painting of my father, M/Sgt Vernon Lights (USMC), is based on a photo from 1946. The photo was badly damaged, so I restored it as a gift for my oldest brother’s birthday. I quickly evolved into an art project. Dad was in the Navy at that time this picture was taken. He had an eye for fashion. Having grown up poor, his many tours of duty around the world gave him a vision of himself as a powerful, well-dressed, “national and international” young black man, with boundless energy. © 2017 Verneda Lights

“Patriarch and Home” | Photomontage, digital painting, 27.5 x 22.5 inches (framed) | This is our humble little house, which my father purchased in 1959. The ample yard used to house vegetable crops, hog pens, hunting dogs, and a chicken coop. Now, it provides safe walking space for me, in this Corona virus age. I'm thinking about planting a garden. © 2017 Verneda Lights

“Mama and Face (in the Kitchen)” | Digital photography, 28.25 x 23.25 inches. | Food is my family's love language. Usually, Dad (a master chef), did all the cooking. But his health was failing, so my brother, "Face" took charge of making breakfast tasty and fun. © 2008, Verneda Lights.

"Face," photomontage, 13.5 x 14.75 inches (framed) | This self-portrait resembles my older brother. We were always very close, and our nickname for each other is "Face." I was amazed to see my brother's face reflected in my self portrait. When I showed it to him, he thought it was his portrait, not mine. "Face" has been exhibited in the "Portraits Americana" exhibit (2018), the Albrecht-Kemper Museum (St Joseph, MO). Printed on glossy, acid-free photo papers. © 2017, Verneda Lights.

"Masks (Fall Away)" 15.5 x 17.25 inches | “Masks” is a self- portrait that shows the multiple layers of my identity that manifest within my role as a caregiver. There are three aspects of the masks, which function as a protective war helmet. The masks represent: medicine, my faith, and cultural identity. "Masks, (Fall Away)" iwas first exhibited in the "Portraits Americana" exhibit (2018), at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum (St. Joseph, MO). Printed on acid-free photo papers. © 2017, Verneda Lights.

"Dearie," 12.5 x 13.5 inches | This self-portrait bears a remarkable resemblance to my maternal grandmother, who was a very proud Charleston creole. She used to pinch my nose because she thought it wasn't "pointy" like hers. Racial identities can manifest in strange ways. Printed on acid-free, glossy photo paper. © 2017, Verneda Lights.

"Mina," 12.5 x 13 inches | My Aunt Mina and I did not get along. So, I was amazed when I completed this self-portrait and saw her face. This was the second time one of my self-portraits looked more like a close relative than me. I doubt if it will be the last. Printed on acid-free, glossy, photo paper. © 2017, Verneda Lights.

“Gullah Me: Technomerge” | Digital photomontage, collage, and digital painting, 22.5 x 22.5 inches (framed) | This self portraits has uses the metaphor of cyborgs and robots to express the need to maintain focus and emotional control in an environment requiring extreme focus amidst multiple (often disastrous) distractions. | © 2017 Verneda Lights.

“Gullah Me: Escape” | Self-portrait, photomontage/ collage, and digital painting, 20 x 17.75 inches (framed) | #Techspressionist #Gullah art | "Gullah Me: Escape" depicts the "tearing away" (of memories, expectations, patterns of behavior, hopes), that occurs when loved ones become terminally ill. I also wanted to communicate the sense of feeling trapped, and the desire to escape. In many cultures, birds are harbingers of death. © 2017 Verneda Lights.

“Gullah Me: Whither Tomorrow” | Digital photography, photomontage, and digital painting | 20 x 18 inches (framed) | “Gullah Me: Whither Tomorrow,” is a meditation on impending sorrows and a tribute to my Uncle Bertie Lights, who was dying as this art work was being created. Here, I wanted to communicate how caregivers and loved ones visualize the path that leads to eternity with a weary, knowing eye. Caregiving is a space of extreme intimacy, where hopes rise and fall across generations and distances. | © 2017 Verneda Lights.

“Portrait of Mother, Last Smile” | Digital photography, photomontage/ collage, and digital painting | 14.5 x 16.5 inches (framed). | My mother always smiled when I asked her to. "Portrait of My Mother: Last Smile" is the last time I captured her smile before she passed away at home. The pink flower (taken from a photo of a bouquet of flowers my brother presented to my mother when my father died in 2013), is symbolic of her death from breast cancer. © 2016 Verneda LIghts.

Ancestral Pillows, Pillars | Photo collage and digital painting | 18 x 21.5 inches (framed) | #Techspressionist #Gullah art | "Ancestral Pillows, Pillars" is a self-portrait that represents the central role that my female ancestors play in my life, and the merging of the past into the present via memory. My Mom is the girl on my right, (literally the "angel on my shoulder"), and my aunt (the rebel) is on my left. Not seen is my grandmother: My head is in her lap & covers her. First exhibited at Woman Made Gallery, Chicago (2017). © 2017 Verneda Lights.

"Fury," self-portrait, digital photography, digital painting 13.63 x 16.25 in. | Everyday, I say this simple word: “No!” At times, I say it loudly. Sometimes, I say it softly. But I always mean it. Black women suffer under multiple jettes in the tidal wave of oppression. As chattel, we were chained to whatever location we were assigned to. Our wombs were the engine that built Euro-American wealth, so we had no reproductive rights. Black women were denied the right to feel or call ourselves beautiful. We were denied equality of education and were among the last to obtain the right to vote. Even as slaves, we raised our voices in support of equality for all women. Our support was rarely appreciated or reciprocated. For these reasons, I am often furious. So, I say “No” when our profit-driven healthcare system denies me respect. I say “No” when a poll worker tries to gaslight me about my right to vote. I say “No” to any attempts to bully me into not asserting my right to equal pay and equal protection under the law. To those who try to touch me when I don’t want to be touched, I scream: “Get your hands off of me!!” I speak it out loud, and I say it in my art. That way, it’s impossible to forget. © 2018, Verneda Lights.

"Tree Is Me" | Self-portrait, photomontage. 12” x 16," (framed). “Tree is Me,” is a self-portrait that is symbolic of my healing after the death of my beloved Mother in 2015. I composed it as I sat outside in the shaded park behind the hospital, (where I just had a normal mammogram), and watched the river flow by. The tree & water whispered healing. Published in Whitefish Review, and Helix Magazine. Awarded "Most Spritiual" award at Moja Art Festival (2017), City Gallery on the Waterfront, Charleston, SC. © 2016, Verneda Lights

“Gullah Me: Hurricane Wings” | 18.75 x 16 inches (framed) | #Techspressionist #Gullah art | Self portrait, digital photomontage & digital painting, titled "Gullah Me: Hurricane Wings” shows the hurry and blur of reality as my trusted childhood companions and I evacuated our family homesteads because of the dangers of hurricane Matthew. In almost 60 years, this was the first time we had to defy the dark, gathering storm clouds. We sailed to safety on the wings of faith. Fist exhibited at Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, 2017. © 2016 Verneda Lights.

“Gullah Me: Current Events” | Self-portrait, digital photomontage, collage, and digital painting, 15.75 x 13.75 inches (framed) | In “Gullah Me: Other Me, Current Events,” I used makeup, Chinese headdress, a back drop of Russia, and digital painting to create a self-portrait that illustrates my use of cyber communications to keep up with (and voice my opinions about), what’s happening in the world around me. © 2017 Verneda Lights.

“Sea of Cares” | 6 x 6 inches (wood-framed porcelain tile) | #Techspressionist #Gullah art | “Sea of Cares” is a self-portrait, styled after Vermeer’s “Girl With the Pearl Earring.” The difference is, my face is awash with clashing sea waves, representing the overwhelming sense of danger caused by the endless uncertainties inherent to life and death situations. © 2017 Verneda Lights.

“Woven” | 6 x 6 inches (wood-framed porcelain tile) | #Techspressionist #Gullah art | Gullah people are well-known for its crafts, such as sweet grass basket weaving. This self-portrait merges layers of hemp fibers. which resemble tribal markings. © 2017 Verneda Lights.

“Road to Savannah” | 6 x 6 inches (wood-framed porcelain tile) | #Techspressionist #Gullah art | After my parents passed away, I became the family caregiver and knowledge worker in charge of the care of my younger brother, Lennie, who had a stroke. I don't drive, so my neighbor, who grew up with us, would drive me to Savannah to visit with my brother at "his house" and stay with him during his numerous hospitalizations. On this day, the clouds hung down low. That was a sign of deep trials ahead. © 2017 Verneda Lights.

“Mariner’s Park” | 6 x 6 inches (wood-framed porcelain tile) | #Techspressionist #Gullah art | I first encountered Mariner's Park while strolling along Paris Avenue, in Port Royal, SC. The park is notable for the shade cast by its trees, and the anchor donated for adornment by a local shrimp boat captain. It was a quiet place to rest. © 2017 Verneda Lights.

Social media: 
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/vernedalights
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/vlights
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/vernedalights

Artist's Statement

These artworks are from my "Gullah Me" collection. The Gullah (or Gullahgeechees) of the South Carolina Low Country, is my ethnic group within the African diaspora. We are descendants of enslaved Africans. My culture has many African retentions, such as our language, crafts, knowledge of herbal remedies, and our strong family and community connections.

My cultural values pertaining to family and respect for elders, played a major role in my decision to work as a family caregiver from 2007 to 2018. Within that time span, I cared for my nonagenarian parents and my younger brother, who had a stroke. They are now all deceased. While I cared for them, I practiced self-care by documenting our journey. I took photos of my family members and myself, almost daily, using my smart phones, digital camera, and iPad. My objective was to capture the changes that took place in myself and in my family members as we teetered along the cliff between this life and the next. I also wanted to leave an artistic narrative that younger members of the family can learn from and be inspired by. 
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Caregiving is a situation that challenges every concept of self and self-sacrifice. The demands are so severe, they can bankrupt you spiritually and financially. Photography became my mirror and my therapy. Because I believe that "Art is a medicine and medicine is an art," creating these portraits became a way for me to decompress in stressful situations. Taking photos and creating art functioned as bread crumbs through a dark, dark, labyrinthine wilderness, from which I was able to emerge after a decade of caregiving immersion, intact. 

The collection was first exhibited at BASEcamp Gallery, Beaufort Digital Corridor, in Beaufort, SC, (July - September 2020). Soon, they will be on display in cyberspace, on the Harlem Fine Art Show platform. This page will be updated as soon as the link goes live.