Renowned contemporary artist Diedrick Brackens (b. Mexia, TX) creates richly layered handwoven tapestries that blend influences from West African weaving, American quilting traditions, and European tapestry making.

This exhibition brings together works that explore freedom, intimacy, and resilience, including themes connected to Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Rather than telling a single story, Brackens examines labor, movement, and sovereignty through interconnected narratives that invite multiple perspectives. Images of light, domestic interiors, and horses recur throughout the exhibition, evoking themes of refuge, journey, and transformation.

Accompanied by newly commissioned poetry from Baltimore-based writer Joël Díaz, the exhibition invites visitors into a world where personal and collective histories intertwine, revealing connections shaped by memory, imagination, and craft.

This exhibition is curated by Leila Grothe, Operations Manager, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, and former BMA Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, with Oscar Flores-Montero, BMA Curatorial Assistant of Contemporary Art, and written contributions from Baltimore-based poet Joël Díaz.