Volume Gallery is participating in the 2025 edition of EXPO CHICAGO with a solo presentation of handwoven weavings by Chicago-based artist SHENEQUA.
SHENEQUA’s work is a material celebration of her Afro-Caribbean identity. Born in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, raised in Miami, Florida and having studied with master weaver Sebastian Dayi in Ghana, West Africa, SHENEQUA deftly weaves together meaningful materials to honor the resilience, beauty, and creativity of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora. Throughout her practice, she incorporates plaits of synthetic hair and sculptural bobby pins to honor the Black hair salon as a center of community, intimacy, and friendship. Her intricate textiles push the boundaries of form with shifts in scale, organic edges, and improvisational moments.
Recent work in vivid colors is inspired by the exuberant Sugar Mas carnival celebrations of Saint Kitts and Nevis, of which her family are longtime participants. Carnivals arose in the Caribbean as independence celebrations, and now the weeks-long festivities feature elaborately costumed dancers, soca music, food, and pageantry. SHENEQUA weaves vibrantly colored fabric with braids of synthetic hair, jewel-like embellishments, strips of Caribbean batik fabric, and iridescent elements, all intertwined to create rich, layered textures that echo African and Caribbean cultural heritage in a striking, tactile display of communal joy.
SHENEQUA received her Master of Design in Fashion, Body, & Garment from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago under the mentorship of artist Nick Cave. She was a 2022 For Freedoms Fellow, a 2022 Center for Craft Advancement Fellow, a 2014 Center for Craft Windgate-Lamar Fellow, and an inaugural 2017/2018 YoungArts Daniel Arsham Fellow. Her collaborative work with Germane Barnes, Identity Column III was included in the 2024/2025 exhibition Germane Barnes: Columnar Disorder at the Art Institute of Chicago.
EXPO CHICAGO showcases leading contemporary and modern art galleries each April at Navy Pier, alongside a diverse and inventive program of talks, on-site installations, and public art initiatives. Inaugurated in 2012, EXPO CHICAGO draws upon the city’s robust history as a vibrant international cultural destination, while highlighting the region’s contemporary arts community. In 2023, EXPO CHICAGO was acquired by Frieze, the world’s leading platform for modern and contemporary art.