The Visibility Project
Otis Junior
The year I started middle school, Alicia Keys released her debut album
Songs in A Minor, and a door in one of my mental hallways unlocked. She was young and Black with a passion for singing, and a fascination with classical piano. So was I. By the time she dropped her second album, my childhood best friend and I were regularly sneaking into the school auditorium after class to play the poorly-tuned upright piano next to the stage. We learned Alicia’s music and felt like we could be stars. Her visibility was the representation we needed.
Throughout my life, those mental doors have continued to unlock, sometimes with the most unexpected of keys. Whether it was through Jimi Hendrix, Samuel L. Jackson, or RuPaul, I have come to learn that we can make things possible for each other by simply being seen. I spoke with five Louisville artists whose visibility is bound to unlock a few doors and got their perspectives on art and the importance of visibility.
Alivia Blade
“I am an artist that literally enjoys trying everything!” shared Louisville artist Alivia Blade, when asked about the future.
Alivia Blade first began to publicly display her art through collaborative works while attending Columbia College Chicago from 2015-2017. Last year, she started the journey of sharing her personal creations with the world, recently utilizing hair and hair products for a series of sculptures.
To Blade, visibility is especially important for marginalized people. She told me, “The stories of Black and brown people have been considered to be optional, secondary and unimportant, but if our stories are taken away, or aren’t seen as necessary, we all forfeit getting a true and full picture of life and what people’s lived experiences actually are. We need reminders that the stories of Black, non-binary, queer, trans, and differently abled folks are worthy, real, and need to be told. Our stories should definitely be prioritized as we live in a society that consistently ‘others’ our stories and prioritizes whiteness.”
She added, “I also hope that my art is healing for Black women-identifying people specifically. I hope they’re able to see something that they relate to or something within my work that makes them feel seen and affirmed; something that makes them feel less alone in their experiences; something that makes them feel understood; something that makes them want to celebrate themselves and their own stories.”
Alivia Blade’s work can be seen on her Instagram profile @aliviablade
Kala Lewis
“It just looked so cool and fulfilling to see these people bring these characters to life. To give them personalities and put them in fantastical situations that you could still resonate with. It was connection that moved me to illustrate. To want to communicate with my audience and make those deep connections,” shared Illustrator Kala Lewis, looking back on her beginnings.
Kala Lewis is a lifelong artist who took the leap towards visibility in 2019. Her fantastical illustrations transport you to the world of her choosing with just a single glance. Lewis creates in a field that is historically dominated by white males, and said, “As a Black illustrator and artist, I know how important it is to see creative works by artists who share your identity. It’s why my illustrations will always feature all kinds of Black people. I’m hoping my creations reach other Black individuals in the ways that others have before me. I want to push the narrative for Blackness toward places outside of just our trauma. Hell, to even places not based in reality. I’m a truly nerdy and dorky person at heart, so I want to be able to share creations around Blackness that allow us to be magical beings if we want to, to be space outlaws if we want to, or to even simply just BE if we want to.”
She also described how visibility and representation can begin at home: “I don’t think I would be the illustrator I am today without my parents. Or their willingness to allow their child to be creative. I was never told that I couldn’t pursue art, but rather I was encouraged. My mother loves Black literature and plays. My father was an amateur photographer with albums full of pictures he’s taken over the years. Both my parents loved music and appreciated Black art. It was almost inevitable that they would have an extremely creative child.”
Kala Lewis’ work can be seen on her Instagram profile @kalapotatoart, and you can support her artistic journey at
https://ko-fi.com/kalapotatoart0797
Isiah Fish
“My poems help me express the ineffable. They are the medium in which my imagination gets to party. They reveal to me (& others) what my obsessions are, where my heart is, how my pain & joy can co-exist in a field under a burnt out moon. My poems are mirrors, revealing a different kind of picture back to me, even if the poems aren't autobiographical.”
Isiah Fish is a Louisville-based poet who began sharing their work in readings and open mics as a teenager. Their passion grew through college, before earning their MFA in poetry in 2019. They recall early inspirations Alysia Harris & Jason Bredle saying, “Alysia Harris had me crying like a baby when she performed ‘Paris in the Rain’ at an event at WKU with the Strivers’ Row poetry collective. She's the best performance poet I've ever had the pleasure of hearing in my life, still. Jason Bredle's poetry was the wackiest, most surreal, most fun thing I had ever read up until that point. His creative freedom is astounding.”
To Fish, visibility is simple: “I feel like nowadays if you want to be visible, you can be. We have magical internets in our pockets and anyone can be a broadcast baddie. I'd like my poems to especially reach queer folks, folks who like to laugh, folks who dream of beauty & have felt the chill & sting of love, and of course, Oprah.”
Isiah Fish can be found on Instagram and Twitter @sloppiejoy. They also recently played the part of Benvolio in Actors Theatre's Romeo & Juliet 2020, and added, “I'm also available for hire. Custom poems for your events, business or casual henny!
Just in case
By Isiah Fish
Is there a problem officer?
Was I speeding? Did a taillight bust?
Did I forget to signal right when I turned
off Blue Lick & cut the night in two dust-wrapped halves?
Was my music too loud between the field where straw grass conduits the wind & the full moon weeps above
what’s been burning on these streets for over a year now?
Here’s my license, registration—
My zip-code is 402 don’t shoot
My number is 502 hands up
My favorite Skittle flavor is pineapple
passionfruit, it’s from the tropical bag.
Everything in the animal kingdom consumes—
Remember the year the mayor declared racism
a public health crisis? A sickness seeping into everyday life?
I removed my du rag when I saw your red & blue lights
strike the cantilever bridge, hooked fish
in the water below, temperate.
Do you want to know what’s in my system & will the answer make me any less human than say,
Your mother?
Would it make a difference if i told you i was driving to see my family, to play Monopoly with my nephew, to listen
to my mother laugh over a wet cutting board & peppers?
Have you ever been placed on administrative leave?
What kind of gun can you mistake a notebook for?
Do you remember Rodney King & the cops who beat
him with a baton for fifteen minutes & were found not guilty?
Do you feel as invincible as them?
Before you answer,
you should know my bestie has my location
& I’m streaming this live on TikTok
just in case I have to drive home dead.
Tyler Curth
“Poetry has not only been a major tool for me in terms of self-expression, but it serves as a way for me to untangle myself, to untangle our increasingly complicated world, to record the emotional landscape of myself and inevitably the people and events that show up in my poems.”
Tyler Curth is a visual poet and musician from Louisville who combines his passion for poetry, drawing, film, and viola into personal works of art. After earning his MFA in poetry in 2018, he learned how much more a poem could be. He says, “I've been obsessed with video poems lately, which is a pretty new genre of poetry that makes it possible for me to combine all of my artistic endeavors into one piece or project.”
Curth shed light on how visibility can be a double-edged sword saying, “I have had to very intentionally make visibility take a back seat in terms of priority. I used to get so depressed by the nature of trying to get my art out into the world that it would literally take me weeks to start writing again if a magazine rejected something, etc.”
He added, “Of course, I hope my work reaches the far depths of time and space, and crosses continents and cultures, but only when it is ready to do so. It shouldn't be too forced. For now, I am happy to create for the people around me who are usually at the root of my inspiration, plus whoever sort of stumbles upon me at any particular moment. I think the smallest, and usually most unexpected, moments when your art is reaching someone unlikely, or by chance, is when the art does the most work at changing a life or a perspective, or teaching someone something, or showing them something they didn't see before.”
Tyler Curth’s work can be seen on his Instagram profile @twcurth22
Kendrick Jones
“I hope folks don't just see my images. I want them to feel my images as well; the same way I feel the images of Gordon Parks, Ernest Withers, Joel Meyerowitz, Darcy Padilla, Kevin Mullins, and Bud Dorsey.”
Kendrick Jones is a documentary/street photographer based in Louisville, KY. His candid works capture fleeting moments in time, fulfilling an urge he has had since childhood. “Around seven years old, I started buying disposable cameras to just shoot any and everything. The images were terrible and always shot from wild/weird angles but they were mine and every shot had a story. Growing up I always tried to find ways to escape my environment but through photography, I was able to learn to embrace my life and the lives of those around me.”
For Jones, visibility was not an initial goal: “I have no formal training and never planned to get into photography beyond personal images for myself and my family. But with a push from my partner and other people, in 2018 I started sharing my work on social media. I'm still figuring out what creating for the public eye consistently looks like for me.”
Those nudges towards sharing his work have forced him to consider what visibility means to him, but passion for the art remains the same. “I simply shoot life, real moments in time, forever framed, and I am honored if anything I capture connects with at least one person.”
Kendrick Jones’ work can be found on his Instagram profile @kenjones.jpg
Otis Junior
Otis Junior is a musician and writer based in Louisville, KY. Originally from La Grange, NC, Otis relocated to Louisville as a child and began to plant his artistic roots. His creative energy is often spent with his band The Jesse Lees, frequent collaborator Dr. Dundiff, and as a host and producer at 91.9 WFPK.