Park of Dreams Artist Spotlight: On Cydne Coleby
Highlighting the artist's work included in the large-scale public art exhibition at Grand Army Plaza
 A large-scale image of Cydne Jasmin Coleby's Remembering I at Grand Army Plaza. Image courtesy of Javier Romero. |
ART FOR CHANGE and Prospect Park Alliance present Park of Dreams, a public art exhibition featuring larger-than-life work by leading New York-based contemporary artists, on view now through Summer 2024. Included in this exhibition is Brooklyn-based artist Cydne Jasmin Coleby.
Cydne Jasmin Coleby’s practice centers on texturally dense mixed-media collages that celebrate the captivating complexity of what it means to be Caribbean while investigating the transformative effects of grief and trauma through a personal lens. Her artwork examines and highlights the ongoing exploitation of black women through the unseen labor they perform around the world.
Cydne Jasmin Coleby’s Remembering I is available for purchase at artforchange.com, with 5% of the purchase price, up to $15,000, of each limited edition print sold being donated to the Prospect Park Alliance. In keeping with all ART FOR CHANGE releases, artists will receive 50% of the net proceeds from each print sale.
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Remembering I, 2023
16 x 20 inches
Archival pigment print
Limited edition of 10
Hand-embellished, signed and numbered by the artist
Limited edition of 30 with 5AP + 1PP
Signed and numbered by the artist
Comprising collaged elements that make up an image of two companions seated by the sea, Remembering I was created in response to the Bahamian government’s decision to restrict citizens’ access to the beach, during the height of the pandemic. Regardless of its well-meaning intentions, this policy deprived locals of access to a natural space where they could self-heal and gather in a socially distanced manner, leading many to question the distinction between ‘tough love’ and punitive action. This discourse prompted Coleby to reflect on simpler days, and to hold onto hope that they would greet her again in the future. Notably, the original iteration of Remembering I resides in the collection of Destinee Ross-Sutton, NY. For this edition, the artist will hand-embellish a portion of the prints by adding gold leafed, matte, gloss, and glitter finishes.
On her participation in the exhibition, Coleby notes: “I love being outdoors. Whether by the water or in a green space, there’s something rejuvenating about being connected to nature. Access to nature is a birthright, and I think it's beautiful that the Prospect Park Alliance is revitalizing woodland and green areas for the public to enjoy."
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 Installation image of Cydne Jasmin Coleby’s solo exhibition, “One of the Boys” (2024) at TERN Gallery. Photo courtesy of TERN Gallery. |
The artist's first solo exhibition "One of The Boys" at TERN Gallery, Nassau, explored the dynamics of bars in local communities. The exhibition highlighted the multiplicity of neighborhood bars: recognizing their purpose as sanctuaries and a place to escape, while acknowledging them as sites of degeneration and hopelessness. In "One of The Boys," Coleby examined personal, collective, and ancestral relationships to trauma and societal conditioning by referencing how the multiplicity personally affected her family structure. Using the opportunity as a means to have these conversations in public, Coleby underscored the need for healthy sites of community and healing.
 Two works by Cydne Jasmin Coleby from her solo exhibition, "One of The Boys." Image courtesy of TERN Gallery. |
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
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Cydne Jasmin Coleby (b. 1993, Nassau) is an interdisciplinary artist from The Bahamas, primarily working in digital and mixed media. Trained on home soil, Coleby pursued her associate's degree in Fine Art from the University of The Bahamas (the highest achievable arts qualification in the country) before moving on to freelance in graphic design with a specialty in brand design. After working successfully for several local entities and later, as Communications Manager for The Current: Baha Mar Gallery & Art Center, Coleby recommitted herself to her art practice in 2018 with her work in the ninth National Exhibition “NE9: The Fruit and the Seed” at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. Since then, she has exhibited locally and internationally in Europe, Asia, the United States, and the Caribbean and has had her work acquired by local and private collectors, including the Syracuse Museum and Xiao Museum of Contemporary Art.
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