We had the good fortune of connecting with Blessing Greer Mathurin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Blessing, how do you think about risk?
My whole career path is based on risk; the arts are risk. You risk vulnerability, embarrassment, time, money, and hope a lot. It creates a sort of ouroboros, with every experience directly feeding into the next, whether through wisdom or opportunity. For my first art job, I spent $60 at 18 with no money, just for the chance to feel a part of an LA arts community.

I think most of my projects, on some level, have that same level of intensity, that feeling of putting everything on the line for something I’m passionate about.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Curation, to me, is an art practice that extends into social practice; it is a place where my intuitions and investigations about myself and the world converge. I love the challenge of finding myself in things that are not me and falling in love with the works.

I can’t really name a single project I’m most excited about—each project I’ve done, including Black Pacifica (Alabaster Gallery, Los Angeles, 2024), Optogenetics: Controlled by Light (Room 3557, Los Angeles, 2024), Mile 44: Archives (Mile 44, Los Angeles, 2024), and Emergence (Fathomers, Los Angeles, 2024), has sparked a different aspect of my curiosities.

I love exploring technology, art, and history and seeing how they intertwine. There’s a histofuturistic bend to the work I get to do, and I feel genuinely grateful and fulfilled to be part of it all. It’s also such a beautiful way to find commonality among people and truly. A challenge has been pacing myself and keeping track of my capacities, but there is such a joie de vivre that comes from working.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
A perfect day would likely begin with staying in bed for an hour after waking, the bedroom suffused with soft light, the air no warmer than 76 degrees…at most. The soundtrack, something deliberate: Roberta Flack, maybe The Strokes. A call with a family member, then I’d visit a gallery or linger in someone’s studio, the kind of space where ideas become tangible quietly. Drinks would follow, unhurried, and then, somehow, we’d find ourselves at the beach, sand in shoes, with someone I love close by. Later, I drive aimlessly, windows down, ending with a $7 pizza and lapping up some laughs somewhere where I run into friends —something simple, something perfect.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to shout out the community in LA, most notably the art workers I look up to: Sara Hantman, the women who run Black Image Center, my director Stacy Switzer at Fathomers, Juan M. Silverio, Ajay Kurian, Omari Douglan, Adrienne Maki, Salim Green and Kwame Gomez!

I’ve learned so much about how I want to live my life from the people listed, and I am as grateful for them as I am for the land that I live and work on.

Website: https://www.b13ss1ng.com

Instagram: @b13ss1ng

Linkedin: Blessing Greer Mathurin

Image Credits
Oscar Noe De Leon Robles, Leeban Farah, Evan Walsh,

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