BIO & Artist Statement

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Yvette  Rock is a painter, object-maker, photographer, and performer. She graduated with a  Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1997  and a Master of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Michigan in 1999. She is currently pursuing a K-12 Certificate in Visual Arts Education from  College for  Creative Studies. Yvette has been a teaching artist with InsideOut  Literary Arts for 25 years and continues to partner with organizations  to bring  visual arts to children. In 2012 she founded Live Coal Gallery, LLC  (now Rock Gallery of Art, LLC) – a small business in Detroit. LCG was a recipient of the 2017,  2019, and 2021 Knight Arts Challenge. Rock is the Founder and Executive  Director of Live Coal, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization transforming  lives and neighborhoods through art, community development, and  education. She is a 2019 Facing Change: Documenting Detroit Fellow and a 2024 Seed and Bloom: Detroit Fellow. Rock lives in  Detroit with her husband and five children.

Photo by Jeff Cancelosi (c)2024

I am Yvette Rock, a Surinamese-Dominican-Christian artist based in Detroit, Michigan. In 1983, my family fled to the United States seeking freedom and safety from corruption and impending dictatorship. The early years in America were filled with excitement and challenges, a common experience for many immigrants. It was during this time that I discovered my new language – art. Enrolling in elementary school, I was nurtured by teachers who recognized my talent and passion. Exposed to various materials and techniques, I found a lifelong calling in art. These foundational years were crucial, setting the stage for a career that explores multiple artistic expressions, including painting, drawing, photography, object-making, and performance.

I am deeply involved in the city of Detroit, transforming neglected land into artistic and safe green areas and creating art-making spaces. These projects reflect my commitment to creating safe, community-based environments that foster growth and unity. Through my art, I connect to the world around me, sometimes addressing the horrific; sometimes addressing the sacred and beautiful, yet always wanting to honor the lives and histories of those I am connected to - whether they be my family or my ancestors.

I also recognize that as an artist, I can present images to audiences who may or may not have the same perspective. I am driven to speak about complicated and controversial issues that deal with the human condition – from the dark past of racism which still lingers in our society today to sharing the beauty that comes from people who are resilient. I want to rest and pause and live a life worthy of the calling I have been given; a calling to speak truth to power and unashamedly address that which lurks in our communities, institutions, homes, governments, and hearts.

Titles and concurrent themes in my latest work include: "What Comes From Dirt," "Memory, Migration, and Movement of Black," "Infiltration of Institutional White," “Motherhood,” and "Haircestry." The thread that holds these themes together for me is the concept of the quest for freedom and passage of time. Time is a complex concept and construct that allows us to enter the past, consider the present, and imagine the future.

Inspired by a photograph of a pile of dirt on one of the underdeveloped lots that I own in the Brightmoor neighborhood of Detroit, “What Comes From Dirt” symbolizes the potential of place and people. The dirt pile represents the source of life, perseverance amidst struggle, and the richness of the color black. It stands as a metaphor for my own journey and the transformative power of community.

In “Memory, Migration, and Movement,“ the pile of dirt is now flipped over and becomes a boat. This image represents the memories, migration, and movement that comes from bodies being taken from one place and transported to another - sometimes by force, sometimes by choice. Key historical events that drive this body of work includes the Middle Passage, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the Civil Rights Movement, personal and current events centered around systemic racism, and my own family history of fleeing oppression and the threat of death in my home country of Suriname.

“Infiltration of Institutional White” examines the insidious nature of white supremacy and systemic racism. "Infiltration" is defined as the surreptitious entry to cause damage, reflected in the methodical white drips over colorful surfaces. The white drips in the paintings symbolize the persistent infiltration of elitist and white supremacist thought into our communities. In many of the works, the textures and colors peeking through the white drips represent the resilience of those who predate this infiltration.

I explore the theme of Motherhood from a biological, aesthetic, ancestral, and spiritual perspective, often reflecting on my own journey as a mother of five children. Writer Kristen Palm speaks of my recent Motherhood series: “A family, like a city, like a life, changes with each passing day. The transitions are usually subtle, yet cumulative. It is in the looking back that the change surprises us. These works are meditations on the fleeting moments that are too often forgotten, if ever noticed at all, reminders that these are the foundations upon which all that truly matters is built.”

Exploring the cultural significance of Black hair, "Haircestry™" uses hair as a medium to discuss trauma and criminalization related to Black people’s hair texture, styles, and history. Inspired by artist Sonya Clark, this series highlights the power of lineage and ancestry carried within Black hair. I am creating works that ties ideas about hair into all the previously mentioned themes - realizing that at its core, hair has a profound way of pointing to our past while shaping our future as a people.