If Belonging is a Fiction – New Photography Exhibit Coming to The Village Well – Culver Metropolis Crossroads

Fiction of belonging is a literary style that explores the seek for dwelling, while dwelling because the “other.” In it, characters usually traverse themes of identification, group and connection by way of the lens of an immigrant expertise. The style grapples with the thought of arrival and the way one involves foster a way of sanctuary by way of place, group, meals, ritual and leisure.

The Studio on the Village Well will likely be internet hosting a reception for the brand new exhibit on January 10, 2026, from 3 to five pm. 

In If Belonging is a Fiction, 4 photographers present documentation as proof of life and survival, showcasing the methods wherein Black individuals have carved out house for themselves within the metropolis of Los Angeles. Here, they examine the thought of dwelling, begging the query: if belonging actually is a fiction, what narratives can we craft as we commune and construct dwelling for ourselves?

In this exhibition, every artist seems to seize Blackness because it adapts and migrates alongside the veins of the town.

Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin and Tariq Nasir Grissom’s works discover Los Angeles’ lengthy historical past of Black displacement. Grissom melts the previous with the current by way of collage. By layering modern photos of the Pacific Ocean with archival household portraits, he evokes a way of fading reminiscence and calls consideration to a deep and intrinsic connection between Black life (and dying) and the ocean.

Whereas Grissom’s work has an ethereal high quality, Boyd-Bouldin’s is heavy with the physicality of place. Deeply observational, Boyd-Bouldin captures a Los Angeles in limbo–teetering between long-standing and under-resourced neighborhoods planted in historical past and the uprooting of those similar neighborhoods for outsourced revenue.

Cara Elise Taylor and Kaylnn Youngblood, reckon with belonging by way of creation, celebration and ritual. Taylor turns her consideration to the Black immigrant expertise to highlight a small Guyanese kitchen right here in Los Angeles. There is a heightened sense of mutual care exchanged by way of her photos. Her lens acts as a mirror, refracting double consciousness. Clear is the care and intention the cooks put into the meals being created, but in addition equally clear is the artist’s want to seize this ritual and its contributors with tenderness.

For Youngblood, the liberty to precise pure pleasure is elevated. In her photos, all photographed in Leimert Park, a traditionally Black neighborhood, the themes convey lightness. Although modern, every {photograph} seems grainy and outdated, implying an untethered and non-temporal expertise of silliness, freedom and autonomy.

Together these 4 artists draw emphasis to the methods wherein one creates and discovers their group, despite displacement.

Tariq Nasir Grissom Prior to the Nineteen Fifties, Santa Monica was dwelling to a thriving and sizable black group throughout the Belmar neighborhood and on Broadway between 14th and twentieth avenue. Through eminent area greater than 500 households have been displaced to construct the Santa Monica Civic Center and I-10 freeway. In Held Within My Own Arms, Nasir Grissom re-establishes the black group archive throughout the Santa Monica shoreline. Like a beacon, Grissom’s {photograph} pulls you in and haunts.

Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin For the previous 12 months or so, Boyd-Bouldin has been photographing the stretch of Jefferson Blvd. between Main and Normandie. The work is an extension of his broader documentary panorama observe (Archival Recordings), which is concentrated on gentrification’s influence on the topography of Los Angeles. His strategy is centered round capturing the ephemeral scenes and buildings that make up a neighborhood to create a file of what’s misplaced. Boyd-Bouldin’s collage work incorporates the images taken over time into an summary composition that reinterprets the areas he pictures.

Cara Elise Taylor  The themes current in her works embody nostalgia, reminiscence, group, and Caribbean life. According to Taylor, dwelling in LA has meant having the ability to witness deep rituals from an incredible vary of cultures. She believes that artwork exists in a lot of Black life. It’s within the curve of a Caribbean lady’s wrist as she seasons a pot of stewed meat. Through this sequence she was capable of inform tales with an intentional concentrate on lineage, craft, and care.

Ka’Lynn Youngblood Ka’Lynn is an artist, director, and photographer rooted in South Central, LA. With a dedication to representing Black lives authentically, she captures the nuance, energy, and vibrancy of African American experiences. Her work goals to light up the depth of those tales, fostering a legacy that uplifts and conjures up future generations. Through her inventive imaginative and prescient, she challenges stereotypes and celebrates the richness of her group. Beyond her inventive work, she is deeply embedded in her group as a frontrunner and activist. Based in Leimert Park — a historic heart of Black arts and tradition in Los Angeles — she serves as a group artwork chief, working to domesticate areas the place creativity, self-expression, and collective empowerment thrive. Through workshops, collaborative initiatives, and mentorship, she strives to encourage and assist rising artists, making certain that the following technology has the instruments and confidence to share their very own tales.

Brett Morrow

Photograph by Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin