Toward a Visual Practice of Black Presencing

Iris Kensmil is an artist whose practice spans painting, drawing, and installation. Pulling inspiration from different genres and archives—whether music or dance, novels, archival documents, or images—Kensmil’s work pushes against structures that would make the lived experience of Blackness invisible, with special attention to Black women. This interview explores recurring themes in Kensmil’s practice, such as Black feminist memory, histories of Black emancipation in the Netherlands, and the genre of portraiture as a practice of presencing.