Tayleur Crenshaw: A Walking Ass Creative
“Look how good I look in this sun?” And it was hard to deny the beauty that emanated from the screen as the Oakland sun hit Tayleur Crenshaw’s face. It was one of the many Sunday zoom calls where the artists came together as part of the BdA Artist fellowship exploring the theme 'Mi Soon Come'. Besides collaborations with the sun, Crenshaw is an Oakland-based writer, curator, creator, co-founder of Gold Beams, and a Black woman. Letting the sun caress her face, Crenshaw shared a little more about herself.
Who are your people?
My people are New Yorkers, shit talkers and every nostalgic character you’d think of when you walk down a block and wave at your community on your way to the corner store.
How do you know who you are?
As I get older I create a clearer understanding of what feels good and what doesn’t feel good. What I like and don’t like. With age also comes the power to express and make intuitive decisions based on these things. In all, it’s being able to really think through my perception of my thoughts and feelings as opposed to tapping into programmed and automatic thoughts on how I should physically, emotionally and mentally respond. Paying more attention to the latter is how I get to know myself over time.
If solely up to you, where would you be and why?
I would be wherever I want to, doing whatever I want to and being amazed and inspired by both! I’m talking about resting for one week and taking naps all day in nature. Playing and chopping it up in the streets of someone's hometown in another part of the world… If it was solely up to me is such an interesting and accurate preface. The fact is it’s my life and the world wants to tell me it's not up to me. But, guess what? Because I have been crowned with full agency I’ll be doing what I want, where I want and beaming every step of the way.
What memory taught you about how you move or the expectations of your movement?
I’m a New Yorker and a proud alumna of Howard University in Washington, DC. I stayed in DC for 9 years after moving down the coast at 18. Those 9 years were pretty wild in all the worst, most amazing and paradigm shifting ways. One day I woke up and wanted to move to California, but I didn’t have the savings to make such a huge leap. Welp, I channelled my manifestation powers and two months later I was on a plane to the Bay with a relocation check deposited in my account. The crazy thing is when I looked back at my 9 years in DC, all of my toughest moments directly led me to be here in California during this time where I’m manifesting my truest dreams. Who knows what the story would have been if I didn’t have those crazy times both not so great and super intensely great. Those memories taught me to love the ride because it's all intentional and it will all circle back.
What makes your particular approach to your work stand out?
My pieces are blunt, clear and relatable. I don’t use a lot of ambiguous metaphors, so the reader/listener always knows exactly what I mean and exactly what I’m talking about. In true New York fashion, I talk a lot of shit and make a lot of jokes. I’m also really emotionally vulnerable and honest in my pieces. Pairing that with the fact that my messaging is so clear, I present myself to you naked AF. When engaging with my pieces you’ll find yourself making the MMMM frown face or smiling without realizing it.
What hopes/expectations/desires do you have for the impact your work has on audiences/participants/viewers/consumers?
I want my audience to go way back… back into time! I want them to remember excitement from back in the day. I want them to feel how transportation transported them into time and danced around amazing phases in their lives.
Tell us about your favorite/preferred mode of transporting yourself around.
I am a walking ass person. It’s how I engage with my community, it’s how I save money, it’s how I get to know a city and it has become the way I organize my thoughts and feelings. I also love being outside so win / win :).
Tayleur Crenshaw is one of the core artists of Bakanal de Afrique, the premier global festival of Pan-African Urban culture, community and creatives; see their new work premiering Nov 6- Nov 30, 2020, exclusively on www.BakanalDeAfrique.com.