Derek Fordjour peels back the layers of Airborne Double

Artist Derek Fordjour reflects on the multitude of layers that have went into the creation of his work AIRBORNE DOUBLE, which is featured in the exhibition Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage at the Frist Art Museum through December 31, 2023.
Multiplicity presents over 80 major collage and collage-informed works that reflect the breadth and complexity of Black identity. Featuring an intergenerational group of 52 living artists, Multiplicity explores the varying ways collage is employed and how the technique suggests diverse conceptual concerns such as cultural hybridity, notions of beauty, gender fluidity, and historical memory. By assembling pieces of paper, photographs, fabric, and salvaged or repurposed materials, these artists create unified compositions that express the endless possibilities of Black-constructed narratives despite our fragmented society.