Hyperallergic: Demetri Broxton – Ancestral Echoes

Demetri Broxton: Ancestral Echoes

Museum of the African Diaspora, 685 Mission Street, San Francisco, California
Through August 16

Demetri Broxton, “He Who Holds Me to the Soil, Holds Himself as Well” (2026), Japanese glass beads, sequins, cowrie shells, recycled glass, 24K gold-plated brass, brass, rayon chainette, wool, Nymo (nylon) thread, serigraph printed on Japanese sateen cotton, goat hair canvas, mounted on birchboard (image courtesy the artist & PATRICIA SWEETOW GALLERY)

 

Known for his intricate mixed-media, beaded pieces exploring Black history, local artist Demetri Broxton mines personal history in Ancestral Echoes. Here, meticulous beadwork and textile assemblages trace his family’s migration from the American South to Oakland, bringing his practice home. Incorporating cowrie shells, Japanese beads, sequins, gold, and family photographs, Broxton draws intimate portraits of the past into hazy focus.