Bio

irene marie is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, designer, and creative producer born + based in San Francisco, CA.

Her work centers on community building, exploring the connections between ancestral memory and materiality. Inspired by her lineage in San Francisco and Louisiana, as well as her lived experience in New Orleans, irene’s forthcoming debut novel is a coming-of-age historical fiction set in 1940s Louisiana.

As an independent scholar of Black American culture and literature, she contributes to dialogues on Black futurism and cultural preservation. With experience in arts administration, communications, and nonprofit fundraising, irene collaborates with artists, organizations, and entrepreneurs to amplify their impact visually and strategically.

Artist Statement

Grounded in the duality of holding joy and pain, my artistic practice weaves placemaking, identity, and culture through the lens of belonging and collective memory. I bridge the past, present, and future, acting as a mirror that reflects and refracts the complexities of Black American identities and life. I explore tensions between rootedness and displacement through literary works, cultural archiving, and interdisciplinary design.

My practice is a multifaceted exploration of Black American existence across multiple time and space continuums. An exaltation of spiritual alchemy, material intelligence, and communical liberation. Through this lens, I aim to amplify the voices of the silenced and disenfranchised who contribute to the ongoing dialogue of Black futurism and cultural preservation. Guided by ancestral intelligences, my work critically examines exploitative and harmful systems while dreaming of and materializing alternative futures. Through the digital and physical realms, my work offers beauty as a form of resistance, an invitation to partake in whimsy, and a catalyst for critical thinking.