Zachary Chestnut

Artist Statement

My work explores the relationship between identity, power, and historical memory through collage. By tearing, layering, and reassembling images drawn from archives, media, and contemporary culture, I examine how Black identity has been shaped by systems of control, resistance, representation, and self-definition. The fragmented nature of the work reflects how history itself is experienced not as a single narrative, but as overlapping moments of struggle, survival, culture, and expression.
These pieces place past and present in conversation with one another. Images of incarceration, revolution, fashion, protest, and everyday life exist side by side, suggesting that culture and identity are inseparable from the political forces that shape them.
Through this process, I aim to challenge viewers to reconsider the images and histories they recognize, and to reflect on how power continues to influence the way identity is constructed, remembered, and seen.