Artist Statement
My work examines the rules that govern our invisible structures. The rules that impede us, or propel us forward, as we navigate social systems. I'm fascinated with how old and oppressive systems endure, replicating through collective practices and rituals. Displaying themselves thorough status markers or other universal means of conveying self-image, aesthetic, interpersonal allegiance, citizenship, lineage, and social status.
Conceptually I'm interested in nonverbal communication, the process of exchanging shared cultural, historical, and familial cues between individuals and groups. I often use garments, gestures. I’m interested in the way we define ourselves by projecting our identities in public space, as well as how we interact with others based on what they project on to us.
In clothing, accent, manners, and movement, we hone selves to present in the social world. We signal authority or meekness. I’m keen to explore how we deploy status symbols to protect ourselves, preserve our identities, and how these same markers ‘use’ us to perpetuate social hierarchies and protect the systems they are born of.
About
Jite Agbro is a Nigerian American artist from the NW. She is currently represented by Patricia Rovzar Gallery in Seattle, WA. She is best known for her colorful figurative artwork featuring layered patterns, sharp contrast, and fabric and paper collage. Agbro has completed several solo exhibitions and large-scale installations around the Northwest, including P.L.U.A. (Proposed Land Use Action) at MAD Art (2022), Deserving at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (2019) and Skap-got at 4Culture Gallery (2018). Notable group exhibitions include the Gates Foundation 20th Anniversary at the Gates Foundation Discovery Center (2020).. She has also received support and funding from Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, The Neddy Foundation, 4Culture, Artist Trust, Shunpike, Pratt Fine Arts Center, and The James & Janie Washington Jr. Foundation. Agbro studied fine art at Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle, WA) and California College Arts (Oakland, CA) before completing a B.A. in Environmental Design at Evergreen State College and an M.S. in Design and Engineering at the University of Washington