I Exist Therefore I Am explores how Caribbean-Latinx individuals process a bicultural identity and the ways in which it manifests itself in their lives. As a Black, second-generation, person of Jamaican-Ecuadorian descent, I have been hesitant to delve further into my cultural identity due to preconceived notions of race, culture, and belonging. The work is a testament to the statement “I Exist Therefore I Am”, intended to create new representations of Blackness in contemporary media, which so often is commodified in art history and popular culture.
Through friendship and community, I engaged with several Caribbean-Latinx individuals as a vessel of strength and assurance. My friends, Nautica, Martin, and Andre, are individuals wanting to unfold the richness of their identities and create bonds within our community. In pursuing this project, I wanted to rework the idea of a ‘subject’, and strive towards a collaborative relationship with the people I photographed. Allowing for them to have control over their own narratives and be portrayed as unique and intersectional beings, each expressing a personal sense of self. The photographs are intended as a means of reimagining the diaspora experience and understanding that cultural identity is both a matter of becoming and being. I Exist Therefore I Am hopes to portray the beauty of diversity that is the Caribbean-Latinx diaspora.
Rahim Perez-Anderson
(He/Him)
Rahim Perez-Anderson is a Jamaican-Ecuadorian lens-based artist currently working and living in Toronto, Canada. Rahim’s work is informed by his lived experiences, more often shared experiences, within and around topics of cultural identity, race, and existence. His work looks to explore frameworks prevalent in his upbringing and how they’ve influenced the way he makes sense of the world. Rahim approaches his work with hopes of sharing his lived experiences in ways that can be engaged with, prompting individuals to reflect on how they move through the world.