Self-Portrait.

Cairá Lee Conner is a Chicago native and graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago BFA program [2009-2013, 2014-2015], with a concentration in Fashion and Illustration. Art and Design are the tools that Cairá uses to explore interpretations and understandings of Blackness. Her work is the pretext for a conversation about identity; a new Black consciousness. After stumbling across the philosophy of Afro-Futurism through the late artist Rammellzee and the film Last Angel of History by John Akomfrah, she began her own journey through understanding the world of spaceships and pyramids. She is an interdisciplinary artist that uses multiple forms of assemblage to create multi-layered surfaces that emulate a new hybrid self. Media include fabric construction, acrylic and watercolor painting as well as illustration, digital design, found objects, and unique fibers. 

Cairá is also a passionate community organizer fighting for racial justice with youth in the city of Chicago. She is the co-founder of Assata's Daughters, an intergenerational collective of Black women and girls that use political education and hands on holistic curriculum as a tool for freedom. She is also the co-founder of For the People Artist Collective, a network of Black and Brown QTPOC artists lending their creative skills to grassroots organizations throughout the city. Cairá has been featured in Grade A Living online magazine, if i may be so bold blog, and Radical Magazine. Her work has been on display at SAIC The Walk, Red Fish Factory in Antwerp, Sights and Sounds of the Cityscape Showcase, the Freedom Dreams Exhibition Pop-Up Gallery and more. Cairá was also asked to create the centerpiece installation at the Duty to Fight Exhibition at Gallery 400, which debuted Spring 2016. She was recently selected to be 1 of 5 artists exhibiting at the Swan Day Chicago Showcase in April 2017.

EDUCATION

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago 2009-2013, 2015-2016

MEDIA

Radical Magazine Feature and Interview - March 2016

Grade A Living Feature and Interview - April 2nd, 2014

if i may be so bold Interview - February 19th, 2015