About Yemonja

Her process…

My creative practice centers on a meticulous exploration of relationships. Through the deconstruction of materials, I intentionally build, disrupt, and reassign connections. Media are assembled and reassembled to reflect the complexities that color union, revealing both metaphorical and literal processes of breaking, concealing, and layering that shape how bonds are formed and sustained.

The work presents these connections as multifaceted and precise. For me, what exists beneath the surface—mistakes, secrets, fears, unspoken loves—matters as much as what is visible. These hidden elements speak to the facades we present and the misinterpretations they invite. My work asks viewers to consider the intricate, often unseen structures that scaffold human reflection and relationships.

Within formation, shifts and instabilities are inevitable. While the resulting compositions may appear visually noisy or imperfectly balanced, they honor collaboration and interdependence. Even in fracture, there is wholeness. Each element is held by a golden cord, otherworldly yet secure, suggesting connection not as perfection, but as presence, persistence, and care.

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 a multidisciplinary artist who has spent over twenty years professionally seeking to understand people, what motivates and challenges them and assisting in building supports to help them live their best lives. Her extensive work with people with developmental disabilities has informed her fascination with the complexities of relationships, which is a common theme reflected in many of her layered mixed-media creations. 

Yemonja creates in various mediums from paint, wood, glass and anything else she can hold and mold. Her works have been exhibited in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, the Frederick Douglass Issac-Meyers Maritime Museum, Hill Center Galleries, Harold Washington Library, South Side Community Art Center, Howard University, the Sojourner Family Peace Center among others, and reside in various private collections across the nation.