Milton’s art exhibition offers empowerment and a celebration of authenticity amid personal adversity. #k5evening
SEATTLE — Artist Maya Milton is creating a space where Black women can feel loved and beautiful with her new exhibition at the Northwest African American Museum.
“I want people to really feel empowered to think like ‘Yes, this is me. I feel represented in this work,’” she said.
“The Cosmos Does Not Ask Permission” celebrates community and the strength of Black women as well as their softness.
In her piece “Metamorphosis,” butterflies surround and fly away from a woman’s head, representing letting go of burdens and welcoming new beginnings. That’s something Maya knows a lot about.
“I’ve been through a lot and I know there are so many people out there who have also been through a lot,” Milton said. “There are people out there who are going through things silently and by themselves and I was one of those people.”
Milton lives with sickle cell anemia. As a child, she wanted to be a dancer until a complication with medication ended those dreams.
“I had a stroke when I was 11 and I had to relearn how to walk and talk,” she said.
A medical crisis can teach us all what’s important in life. In a world that tells us to keep pushing, Milton painted a piece called “Sacred Rest”
“It is about romanticizing rest and how in rest we return home to ourselves,” she said.
Another piece titled “She Who Came Before Me,” is dedicated to the women in Milton’s life.
“No matter what I was experiencing or going through, I could turn to them for wisdom and advice,” Milton said.
Milton has to manage her sickle cell every single day and every day she shows up and paints. Her messages extending beyond the canvas.
“As Black women, we have permission to be ourselves authentically we should show up in every space and every place as our full authentic selves,” she said. “We should be able to feel love and joy and passion to the fullest extent possible.”
Milton’s “The Cosmos Does Not Ask Permission” will be on display at the Northwest African American Museum through Sunday at 5 p.m.
