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iyana

@0shunn

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vcu arts’23 | 🔰nsu mfa‘28
“Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy” 🌀

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“The Garden Still Knows Her Name”
Oil pastel on canvas, 60 × 70 inches

This work honors the Black women laborers of the Works Progress Administration who built the Norfolk Botanical Garden in the 1930s. Through a segregated program, they cleared land and planted thousands of azaleas, shaping a landscape that would later be celebrated without them. This piece centers their labor, care, and the presence history overlooked. by @0shunn

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6 months ago

“The Garden Still Knows Her Name: Continued”, 60 x 70 inches, oil pastel on canvas.

This is the second piece of this series! I still can’t believe that I’m working so big🥹. by @0shunn

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5 months ago

“Another Blue Monday”, Oil Pastel on canvas , 60 x 40 in , 2025 by @0shunn

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10 months ago

🌺 Honoring the women who planted the foundation.🌺

Today I had the honor of displaying my work at the 18th Annual WPA Heritage Day Celebration at Norfolk Botanical Garden. I received so much love, feedback, and praise for these pieces, and I’m incredibly grateful for every person who stopped to look, ask questions, and connect with the stories behind my work. 🧡

These pieces honor the 200 African American women who, alongside 20 African American men, helped create what we now know as Norfolk Botanical Garden beginning in 1938 through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). They cleared dense, swampy land by hand, working through difficult conditions before planting thousands of flowers and plants.

Their story is especially powerful because the beauty they helped create existed within the realities of segregation. Despite their contributions, these African American workers were not initially able to enjoy the Garden they helped build in the same way as white visitors.

My work is about making labor like theirs visible. These women were not simply workers in the background of history. They were builders, gardeners, mothers, providers, and an essential part of Norfolk’s history. The Garden we enjoy today quite literally grew from their hands. 🌱

As an African American woman and artist, being able to tell their story through my work and display that work in the very Garden they helped create means more to me than I can put into words.

Their labor deserves to be seen. Their names deserve to be remembered. Their legacy is still blooming. 🌺🌿

Thank you, Norfolk Botanical Garden, for allowing me to be part of such a meaningful celebration. 🧡 by @0shunn

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8 days ago

When you and your favs all have locs 🥹🌀🤎 by @0shunn

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9 days ago

🌀 by @0shunn

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2 months ago

“Inheritance of Bloom”, 24 x 36 in, oil pastel and collage on canvas. 🌺

Honestly working with oil pastel + collage was SO fun! I feel like I’ll continue to do this 🥹 by @0shunn

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2 months ago

Decided to add oil pastel + collage art to this print🌷 by @0shunn

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2 months ago

“Tumultuous”, oil pastel on panel, 23 x 34 in, 2025 by @0shunn

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a year ago

this was a good day 🥲💕 by @0shunn

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4 months ago

“The Long way to dinner”, oil pastel on canvas, 24 x 36 inches.

This work explores the issue of food deserts in Black communities, where access to fresh, affordable, and nutritious food is often limited.

#oilpastelpainting by @0shunn

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3 months ago

work in progress! 🥹 playing around with collage has been so fun by @0shunn

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2 months ago