About Yemonja
Photo by Tony Smith
Her process…
Through use of paint, collage, papercuts and other media, I seek to build through focused deconstruction, and examine the process of holding even brokenness of spirit tenderly though reassembly. My preparation as an art therapy intern has been informed by experiences working with caregivers, staff, therapists, and the youth and older adults they support who have experienced trauma. Emphasis on self-care remains central to my practice and in the pieces I create.
I draw the core of a thing to the outside, asking the viewer to acknowledge how familiar it is to them although hidden. With a varied use of color to display the underside of the soul, I hope that the viewer will see themselves and be able to identify their own reflection in what is witnessed. The cyclical nature of growth, which often includes breaking, mending and refining, is reflected in the blending of color in my work.
Bio
Dr. Yemonja Smalls is an emerging artist with very little formal artistic training. As recent Chicago, IL to Baltimore, MD transplant, she currently functions as the State Director of Coordination of Community Services in Maryland’s Department of Health. She has over 20 years of experience working with people with developmental disabilities and their families both in the private and public sectors.
Yemonja completed her pre-doctoral internship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Kennedy Krieger Institute, and received her doctorate from Louisiana State University in clinical psychology. She recently expanded her clinical skills with a master’s degree in Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, interning at sites supporting adults with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease, as well as African American teenage girls who experienced life trauma and family caregivers who may be subject to secondary trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout.
Yemonja’s creations in various mediums have been exhibited in the Museum of Science and Industry, The Hill Center, Harold Washington Library, South Side Community Art Center, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Harlem Fine Arts Show, Gallery Guichard, Howard University, Tall Grass Studios, the Sojourner Family Peace Center among others, and in various private collections across the nation.
