LOOKING FOR LAYLA is a rich and layered digital art piece. Based on a presentation from a course called “The Black Body and the Lens,” LOOKING FOR LAYLA analyzes the fifth and final chapter of Monica Miller’s scholarly text about the Black Dandy—the chapter on queerness. A unique presentation of ideas, this piece engages critical conversations surrounding Black creative self-fashioning, queer aesthetics, and the post-Black framework. Not only does LOOKING FOR LAYLA evoke intrigue, it ties beautifully into FEELMORE collective’s theme “Saving Time.” This project is itself, already, inherently a way of “saving time.” West pushes back against the loss of cultural memory and identity, while at the same time, offering new possibilities for the future of Black identity and fashion. This piece is timely, as it aligns with the themes of the Met’s spring 2025 Costume Institute exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” Further, its themes of discovery and participation offer viewers a new, embodied way of engaging with time and memory through Black diasporic identity.
Why am I doing this? I’m creating this work to engage with Monica L. Miller’s scholarship on queerness in Black dandyism and connect it to critical conversations about Black creative self-fashioning, queer aesthetics, and the post-Black framework. This project pushes back against the loss of cultural memory while offering new possibilities for the future of Black identity and fashion, aligning with the FEELMOORE theme of “Saving Time.”
How am I doing this? Phil Moore and I co-created a digital slidedeck, weaving together collages that include major citations from Monica L. Miller’s chapter on queerness, art on post-Blackness, and related imagery. The slides also include original design work, writing, and art—including self-portraits by Layla June. Together, these elements create an immersive, accessible presentation of critical scholarship through a creative and collaborative lens.
What does this entail? The project combines critical theory and visual art to explore how Black dandyism and queerness resist linear time and conventional identity frameworks. By remixing scholarly and cultural references into a visual narrative, it invites viewers to consider the circular, fluid nature of time and to engage more deeply with memory, identity, and the possibilities of Black self-fashioning.