ARTIST BIO

Sasha-Loriene McClain is a Maryland based interdisciplinary artist whose work is informed by her inner-child healing journey and recontextualisation of home. Born to Liberian immigrants, Sasha-Loriene explores mixed media figuration and collage to cultivate home independent of time, space, and location and actualize the intersection of storytelling and artmaking as a tool for African diasporic healing and empowerment. In doing so, Sasha-Loriene engages multiple channels in an effort to unpack ancestral memory, process loss, and archive generational stories beyond practical use and word of mouth into contemporary works of art.

Sasha-Loriene is a 2023 grant recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts. She has participated in artist residencies in Maryland and Michigan and exhibited in Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, New York, Florida, and the United Kingdom. As the founder of Mahyue Studios, a community arts incubator centering healing, storytelling, and cultural exchange, and Black Girls Who Paint, a global movement supporting Black women and girl artists, Sasha-Loriene leverages her BA in Economics from University of Maryland: College Park and MPA in Public Management from American University to amplify her artistic voice and social-engagement on larger scales. Currently, Sasha-Loriene is an MFA Candidate in Studio Art Low-Residency at Maryland Institute College of Art.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My understanding of home beyond infrastructure deeply influences my art direction. As such, I center ‘play’ and ‘discovery’ to reconnect with my inner child, document my healing journey, and explore how inner-child healing can help dismantle and reconstruct my core beliefs about home and community.

Currently, my practice explores what it means to cultivate home within myself through three overarching questions: (1) How have my childhood experiences left long-lasting impressions in adulthood, (2) How am I meeting the needs of my inner child today?, and (3) How do I embrace inner-child healing alongside new motherhood with the recent loss of my own? To find these answers, I draw inspiration from practitioners including author Louise Hay’s “Mirror work" for self-love and healing, artist Laura Wheeler Waring’s journey in portraiture for approach through experience, and artist Romare Bearden’s exemplification of Black culture and imagery for emphasis of the past into the present. I utilize personal photographs and mementos, influential relationships, and art forms both enjoyed during youth and taught to me by my mom, such as collage, crochet, and sewing, to reconnect with parts of myself that I disconnected from during adolescence into early adulthood. I also incorporate balloons to symbolize hope, dreams, and memories of my late mother and grandmother that have impacted my life and how I navigate life moving forward. In doing so, I honor individual evolution, contextualize the world around me, and express gratitude for lived experiences as a whole. 

My work primarily consists of paintings that utilize bold colors, textures, and compositions to emphasize the liberating nature of childhood expression. I share the stories of my inner child Mahyue, my childhood nickname for ‘girl’ and the symbol I incorporate as my signature while also discovering and reimagining the stories rooted in ancestral memories passed down through generations into each work. I engage various materials such as, acrylic and oil paints, pastels, found objects, textiles, thread/string, repurposed canvas, and paper, to mirror the inquisitive nature of children and offer an intimate exploration into childhood memories and their enduring impact on adult life. I deconstruct both childhood and adult wounds through an intuitive approach to portraiture, figuration, and abstraction to create works that evoke nostalgia and invite the audience to appreciate the small moments of joy in everyday life.

As I cultivate home within myself, I heal and empower my inner child to run free within my offerings to others. I invite viewers to engage with their inner child and journey alongside me towards healing. In doing so, we contribute to collective healing and spark a communal reimagination of the world, leading to a more empathetic worldview and positive influence on future generations.

For all inquiries, please contact info@sasha-loriene.com.