Artist Statement
Ivy Nicole-Jonét (she/they) is a Black Womxn, Soilpunk interdisciplinary artist, raised in Southeast Washington, DC, rooted in Afro-Carolinian heritage, and currently based in Baltimore, Maryland.
Her work merges Afrofuturism with a Soilpunk ethos to conjure immersive spaces alive with ancestral echoes and visions of liberation. Soilpunk is an Afrofuturist lens that centers the sacred knowledge, regenerative power, and liberatory futures held within the soil itself. Through documentary film, experimental immersive media, archival exploration, AR/VR technologies, and installations, she weaves together strands of Black narrative, resilience, mundanity, and radical imagination rooted in ecological preservation and freedom. Her practice is preservation and documentation, using technology to honor memory and extend the timelines of Black folx and the land.
Her art is a living tribute and altar, a sacred weaving of the deep histories held within the land, where soil and water serve as living archives, regenerating, holding, and documenting the histories of Black folx. Water, a recurring symbol of endurance, resilience, and transformation, flows through her works as a transcendent conduit and portal. Utilizing augmented and virtual reality, animation, and archival footage, her creations transcend traditional forms to build portals into alternate realities. These immersive worlds converge past, present, and future in a kaleidoscope of memory and possibility, modeling a praxis where technology and nature coexist in preservation. This convergence ensures that technology protects the land and people rather than exploits them for corporate greed.
Ivy's art is a call to remember, to resist, and to dream. It cultivates a shared spirit of resilience and shapes collective futures that center healing, freedom, and ancestral wisdom. Her art invites viewers to engage with collective memory, to contemplate and connect, and to envision a world where Black existence is celebrated in its full complexity.
Education
University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA
Bachelor's - 2016-2020
Fine Arts and Design with a Concentration in Film/Video Production and Animation
Duke University - Durham, NC
Master of Fine Arts - 2020-2022
Experimental and Documentary Arts
Festivals, Exhibitions, & Publications
2nd Annual Afrofuturist Femmes Film Festival | November 5-6, 2025
Detroit, MI
"the waters whisper sweet solace" & "the waters whisper sweet solace: A VR Odyssy"
By: Ivy Nicole-Jonet, in collaboration with Courtney Staton, Akeema-Zane, Carrie Hawks, and Brandon King
New Media Art 2026 Publication
Gimpo, South Korea
"the waters whisper sweet solace"
By: Ivy Nicole-Jonet, in collaboration with Courtney Staton, Akeema-Zane, Carrie Hawks, and Brandon King
International Symposium for Visual Culture & Exhibition 2025 | CICA Museum | September 10 – 28, 2025
Gimpo, South Korea
"the waters whisper sweet solace"
By: Ivy Nicole-Jonet, in collaboration with Courtney Staton, Akeema-Zane, Carrie Hawks, and Brandon King
International Symposium at the Cultural Arts Center and the Cafritz Foundation Arts Center | September 20, 2025
Montgomery College | Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
"the waters whisper sweet solace"
By: Ivy Nicole-Jonet, in collaboration with Courtney Staton, Akeema-Zane, Carrie Hawks, and Brandon King
BLACK AUGUST Exhibition | Crow’s Nest Gallery | August 23, 2025
Baltimore, MD
"the waters whisper sweet solace"
By: Ivy Nicole-Jonet, in collaboration with Courtney Staton, Akeema-Zane, Carrie Hawks, and Brandon King
CICA Museum | International Experimental Film Exhibition | May 21-June 15 2025
Seoul, Korea
"the waters whisper sweet solace"
By: Ivy Nicole-Jonet, in collaboration with Courtney Staton, Akeema-Zane, Carrie Hawks, and Brandon King
30th Annual Cucalorus Film Festival | IMMERSION Retrospective Exhibit | 2024
Wilmington, NC
"the waters whisper sweet solace: a VR odyssey"
By: Ivy Nicole-Jonet, in collaboration with Courtney Staton, Akeema-Zane, Carrie Hawks, and Brandon King
Death Planted a Garden | September 6th-October 20th 2024
Queen Street Magic Boat | Durham, NC
"Ancestral Plane: A Shrine to Our Roots and Futures"
By: Ivy Nicole-Jonet
Cucalorus Film Festival VR Expo | 2023
"the waters whisper sweet solace"
By: Ivy Nicole-Jonet, in collaboration with Courtney Staton, Akeema-Zane, Carrie Hawks, and Brandon King
NeXt Doc Fellow | July 2022 - March 2024
Youth FX | Virtual
metaDEN, New Women Space, and Mott Haven Film Festival for Queering Film: A Mini Film Festival in Rainbow Colors | 2022
"Relics of the Afrofuture"
By: Ivy Nicole-Jonet & Lee Edwards
IncuArts Gallery Presents: Past, Present, Future International Exhibition | 2021
"Relics of the Afrofuture"
By: Ivy Nicole-Jonet & Lee Edwards
www.incuarts.com/past-exhibition
UNCG Flick! Experimental Film Festival | 2021
"Relics of the Afrofuture"
By: Ivy Nicole-Jonet & Lee Edwards