PHOTO | ASHLEY MAHONEY

Monique Luck’s “I Feel Forever” is part of Inter | Sectionality at the Gantt Center.

Monique Luck created work that takes you in for the latest exhibition at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Art + Culture.

The Charlotte based mixed media artist is one of two guest artists, along with Stephanie J. Woods, featured in “Inter | Sectionality: Diaspora Art From the Creole City,” which opened on Oct. 1 and runs through January. The exhibit also features 25 Miami based artists representing 17 countries. Luck’s work can be seen on the first floor of the Gantt, encompassing most of the space. Luck’s on-site installation of “I Feel Forever” uses water to explore human emotion.

“I have always been drawn to water and the emotional impact it has—just how we are made up of water, and how our emotional body is like body, and how water holds memories—all of that,” said Luck, who often features water elements in her work.

Inspiration for the work came from a previous project, where she was working with community members who would leave anonymous notes about grief and loss.

“One of the memories that someone left was called ‘I feel forever in my grasp,’” Luck said. “It was this beautiful story of recovery and strength. It was really touching.  I created a piece of work from that. It was a figure submerged in water who was holding out, or gasping for the future, and it was unknown but there was confidence.”

The original, which was on a 36-inch by 48-inch canvas, was taken to the Bahamas in 2019, but soon washed away.

“Last fall it was engulfed and destroyed by Hurricane Dorian,” Luck said. “It literally was taken out to sea. That whole experience with what happened to Dorian and everyone there was really devastating. It kind of reminds you that, ‘yes, we love this water, but it holds this power, and it has some destructive power as well, and it is unseen.’”

Luck revisited these themes for the Gantt exhibit, as much of 2020 for people all over the world has felt as uncertain, and in some cases as destructive as the waters churned by a hurricane.

“It made me think about now how we are being swept along these overwhelming paths, with these unexpected things happening,” Luck said. “When I was invited to do this exhibition, I wanted to incorporate that story of ‘I feel forever in my grasp.’ I shortened it to ‘I Feel Forever,’ because it is different now.”

The second part of the story features a woman wearing a crown, but still submerged in water. She has mystical mermaid presence, but also strength and healing.

“Even though we can face these kind of overwhelming circumstances or grief or loss or whatever we are struggling with right now, there is still this kind strength and faith that we have in the ability to overcome it,” Luck said.

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