Artist Statement: Through my most recent project, The Community's Magic Sound Box Project, I've created a group of ornate, mobile oral history sculptures. This work is rooted in the custom of the colorful costumed West African Masquerades, who traditionally perform during social gatherings and festivals. A Sing For Hope Piano is indeed a Community Sound Box. My concept for this project is to mirror both the inspiration and aesthetic process, that I've employed in creating my mobile oral history sculptures. I will produce a piano that will visually evoke a sense of magic.
Elvira Clayton was born in Lafayette, Louisiana and grew up in Houston, Texas. She began her creative practice as a performance artist and has expanded to include visual art genres. Since relocating to Harlem, NYC in 2006, much of Clayton's work has focused on socially-engaging projects. She blends oral history, photography, handcraft aesthetics, and mobile installations to communicate and elevate stories of everyday people. Clayton has exhibited her work in New York and throughout the US. She was awarded residencies at the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies and the Blue Mountain Center. Her work was featured on the cover of the 32nd anniversary issue of the literary journal Callaloo, and in the Killen Letters Review. Clayton is a four-time Manhattan Community Arts Fund Grant recipient, a 2011 Laundromat Project Create Change fellow, and a 2015 Laundromat Project Commissions artist.
