As part of The Cultural Between exhibition at the Miramar Cultural Center—curated by Sankofa’s Child, Inc.—we continue our artist spotlight series with visual artist Symphonii Smith-Kennedy.
Symphonii is a first-generation Jamaican-American painter whose vibrant, symbolic works explore Black fantasy, queer identity, diaspora history, and the power of subverting traditional gazes.
🎨 Crafting Black Fantasy & Ancestral Mythologies
For Symphonii, art has been a lifelong calling. Navigating the realities of being an emerging artist in a commercial world, she centers her studio practice on Black fantasy, expanding beyond Eurocentric and Asian-centric mythologies to celebrate indigenous African and Caribbean lore.
“We have our own mythology… our own stories to tell that we can create and translate into artwork. Our history holds power.”
— Symphonii Smith-Kennedy
Her current projects reimagine mythological beings such as the Ninki Nanka (a West African river dragon from Gambian folklore) and imagine alternative spiritualities rooted in Taíno and African ancestral traditions outside of colonial frameworks.
🖼️ Featured Works in the Exhibition
In The Cultural Between, Symphonii exhibits deeply layered pieces incorporating oil paint, shaped MDF boards, and iconography:
- “Come a Foreign”: An evocative piece exploring the generational transition of immigrant Jamaican parents whose heritage trickles down into a first-generation American life. The green section features rich Jamaican symbols—the native American crocodile, island fruit baskets, and a historic coat of arms motif—contrasted with Florida markers like the iguana. Notably, she includes the mongoose as a symbol of enslaved Africans who resisted oppression, broke free, and established autonomy.
- “Congo” (from the Not Your Muse series): A powerful portrait painted on custom-cut wood depicting a Black femme figure staring directly at the viewer. Subverting the male gaze with an uncompromising female/queer gaze, the work integrates traditional Congo/Kente pattern textiles to firmly root the subject in ancestral power and sovereignty.
🇯🇲 Navigating the “In-Between” of Jamaican-American Identity
Symphonii reflects openly on the experience of belonging everywhere and nowhere at once—navigating spaces where one can feel not Jamaican enough in the islands, yet distinctly “other” in America. In response, she creates community among first-generation creatives and channels these tensions into her new series, Salt Water and Concrete.
🗓️ Exhibition Details
- Exhibition: The Cultural Between (Caribbean Heritage Exhibition)
- Location: Miramar Cultural Center / ArtsPark (Ansin Family Art Gallery), 2400 Civic Center Place, Miramar, FL
- Dates: June 30 – August 21, 2026 | Monday – Thursday, 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM
- Curated by: Sankofa’s Child, Inc.
- Learn More: www.sankofaschild.org/exhibits
Watch the Full YouTube Interview: https://youtu.be/Z_MOXpTs3dg