4-color Risograph print in Sunflower, Aqua, Kelly Green, and Black.
Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo is a Black, Latinx, queer artist, activist, educator, storyteller & curator who lives and works in Oakland, CA.Their work is informed by a commitment to craft and to community, engagement with society, and interests in storytelling and cultural geography. Through the processes of story collecting, printmaking, painting, performance, sculpture building and curating, they strive to re-create and re-tell their personal tales and those of the people that surround them. Lukaza’s work has most recently been in community with See Black Womxn Collective, No Neutral Alliance and CTRL+SHFT Collective.
@bluekaza
This work was produced as part of Poetry for Persistence an artist-driven print fundraiser and distribution initiative organized by Press Press and Printed Matter. The project aims to raise funds for organizations whose work and advocacy are especially crucial in this moment, with an emphasis on Baltimore-based groups.
As part of Poetry for Persistence, eleven artists, writers, and organizers have produced risograph-printed artworks reflecting on a set of prompts and sharing visions of collectivity, care, joy, sanctuary, future, and possibility. What does our future look like? What does joy look and feel like? How can we hold ourselves and one another through grief and loss? How do we build sanctuary? How do we honor and care for the collective? What does liberation look like?
Proceeds from the sale of these editions will be distributed across six organizations and initiatives: Baltimore Action Legal Team’s Community Bail Fund, Sex Workers Outreach Project Baltimore, Baltimore Safe Haven, Keith Davis Jr. Legal Defense Fund, BYP100, & The Free Black Women’s Library’s Sister Outsider Relief Grant.
Including works by Abdu Ali + Karryl Eugene (As They Lay), Bilphena Yahwon, Denise Shanté Brown, Georgia McCandlish, Kimi Hanauer, Lizania Cruz, Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo, Mimi Zhu, Nnennaya Amuchie, Shan Wallace, and Taeyoon Choi.
