Graduation is a series of family photos that I began reviewing after the passing of my mother in the summer of 2019. I went through these photos and tried to piece together her life and the family I came from before my birth. I don’t know who many of these people are, which speaks to lineage in many Black families in America for centuries. These pieces speak to breakthroughs, life transitions, and constant change. The life cycle of humanity and nature was on my mind while creating these during my residency at Grinnell College in the fall of 2019. Several pieces were then featured in my 2020 exhibition at Grinnell’s Museum of Art.