Cheryl R. Riley
My artwork and designs delve into the interconnectedness of seemingly disparate cultures, viewed through the prism of my African, European, and Southern American heritages. I draw parallels across cultures, scrutinizing contemporary struggles shaped by the intersections of HIStory, domination, religion, racism, triumphs, and transcendence. I seek to highlight resilience over adversity, exposing struggles and celebrating the triumphs that shape identities. My explorations reveal similarities between cultures, engaging tropes of family, childhood, gender, rituals, implements, and symbols. I utilize diverse media, including wearable sculpture, sculpture, furniture, and wall art.
CHERYL R. RILEY is a Multi-Media Artist, Furniture Designer and Art Advisor whose focus is artists of the Black African Diaspora. She creates wall art, installations, site-specific public artworks, and custom designs for corporate titans and celebrity clients. Her works are in the permanent collections of Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design, Smithsonian Museum of African American History & Culture, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA), Brooklyn Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Mint Museum of Art & Design and Oakland Museum. Public works are the San Francisco Bayview Police Station Public Lobby and Community Conference Room, The Sacramento Pannel Meadowview Community Center entry wall mural, The City University of New York, Sheppard Hall “Gothic Kuba Glass Window Panels I-IV, Atlanta Hartsfield Airport “African Textiles Glass Panels I-V”, among others.
