Najee Tobin || Rough Thesis Photography

Further Into The Place is a photographic project rooted in referencing 60’s - 80’s sci-fi art incorporating Afro-Surrealist motifs. It is a nod to the artists Sun Ra, Funkadelic, Digable Planets, Deltron 3030 - to the universes they created and the journeys they took their audiences on. Each place that is explored is made up of material such as paper, water putty, glass and foil that is then abstracted to give them a whole new characteristic.These items lend themselves to landscapes that invite viewers into fantastic places. In these pieces, each character resides in their own world that the viewer is happening upon. Small portals into the fabrics of the subject's existence. Using items only found in the homes of black grandmothers and aunties, each character is accompanied by the avatars of their loving prayers in the form of the statues that line their homes. Wilhelm, who is followed  and protected by the Black Madonna as he learns to harness the abilities that his grandmother saw in him from the day he was born. Avalon, who was charged to be the ferry man of spirits to the next chapter from the end of the universe. Each being in the place started off as a person but was taken into space just like Sun-Ra did once before. Each is given a chance to grow far beyond the influence of earth as we know it. Further Into The Place invites viewers to explore the polylithic nature of black diasporic galaxies.