Ambrose Rhapsody Murray (they/she) is a self-taught artist, born in Jacksonville, Florida and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. Through sewing, painting, material experimentation, film and collaborative projects, they create stories to investigate our relationships to the colonial undercurrents of our lives, the charged symbology of Black feminine bodies, and the ephemeral and layered qualities of memory and remembering. Through their work, Ambrose seeks to bring physical form to the ideas and theories that have been inspired by Black feminist writers and visionaries such as Gwendolyn Brooks, Lucille Clifton, Toni Morrison, and Beverly Buchanan. Their work and practice are rooted in self regard, intimacy, healing, and ancestral memorialization.
“Through fabrics misshapen, draped, cut apart, sewn together, and blurred/masked/hidden imagery, I aim to visualize the complicated nature of memory, remembrance and re-telling an account of violence or harm. Feeling and memory connected to cloth/textiles and archival photographs are central themes in my work.” – Ambrose Rhapsody Murray
Ambrose received their Bachelor’s from Yale University, and was recently selected as Forbes 30 under 30 in the 2024 Art section. Their work lives in the permanent collection of The Studio Museum in Harlem and The Montclair Art Museum, and has exhibited across the US and abroad.
My Memory is a Machine is curated by Kilolo Luckett in collaboration with Ambrose Rhapsody Murray; exhibition installation was handled with care by John Barbara Jr., exhibition designer, and Marvin Touré, fine art preparatory and designer.
