Meet Trailblazer Neka King

Today we’d like to introduce you to Neka King.

Neka, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My start with art honestly goes back to kindergarten. That was the first time someone was able to point and say “Hey, that pretty cool you should continue that.”

But fast forwarding a bit, I’m originally from New Orleans, I relocated to Georgia with my family when I was in high school. After high school, I studied art at Georgia Perimeter and later Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design at GSU.

At Welch, I had the opportunity to center my studio practice around the Textile Arts. This was the biggest changing point in my definition of what art is, what it does, and how that plays out in my own practice.

As for the present day, I’m currently participating in WonderRoot’s Hughley fellowship.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth road… naw ha. Art is labor. I still can hear that phrase “There’s no such thing as a lazy artist.”

The biggest struggles for me is allocating time and resources to make art outside of my daily living needs.

However, once you understand how you work as an artist and the resources available to you than that burden becomes a bit lighter. However, the key to the booth of these starts with community.

If I have any advice for anyone, especially marginalized groups it’s to find your community within your industry. You can belong to multiple communities just make sure you invest in them.

This investment isn’t always monetary but can be as simple as showing up for one another.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about your work – what should we know?
Again I had the amazing opportunity to be apart of the Textile Arts community at Ernest G. Welch and learn so much from that experience. Although I may fluctuate between disciplines, I still accredit most of my personal art theory to that of textile and craft artist.

In fact, the work I am currently creating is taking me back to the textile/craft medium, so I’m really happy with what’s going on in my studio right now.

Aside from this, I originally started out in drawing and panting. Most of the examples here are digital illustrations.

I believe it’s when that mix of textiles, craft, illustration, and painting comes together that I find myself in an interesting spot.

Which women have inspired you in your life?
This is a big one, so let’s start.

My mother, number one always and forever just cause she perpetually holds it down.

My little sister because she is an amazing artist. She’s a better illustrator than me, to be honest.

All of the women in my family because hello! My teachers and professors. Shout out to the incredible women running the Textiles Department at Welch.

Last but not least, all of the amazing women, non-binary, feme and masc identified beings I’ve had the privilege of having as both peers and friends. There’s too many of y’all to list but you know exactly who you are. Thank you for your support and knowledge, it means so much.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nnekkaa.com
• Email: Contactneka.co@gmail.com
• Instagram: @nnekkaa_

Image Credit:
Photographer: Patrica Villafane, Model: Raven Banks

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