Creature / Comfort

Artist Statement

One of my primary areas of interest is the intersection of archives, folk traditions, and the natural world. My work retains a deep relationship with Appalachia, which has long been home to craft traditions and material culture that both sustain and tell the stories of communities. Many of these traditions were explored, revived, and reimagined by Black Mountain College artists such as Anni Albers and Elizabeth Schmitt Jennerjahn, who emphasized the tactile and communal aspects of making. My work engages with this legacy by examining how illustration and craft practices serves as a living archive—one that resists static institutionalization and instead embraces storytelling, adaptation, and ecological consciousness. Black Mountain College’s spirit of collaboration extended beyond the classroom, engaging with community through craft, agriculture, and experiential learning. In this spirit, my artwork and scholarship recognizes the land itself as a site of memory and resistance. The concept of “living with the land” not only informs the ways we document history but also how we engage with sustainability in preservation practices. Just as Black Mountain College fostered an environment where artists and thinkers experimented with new forms of expression, my work continues the spirit of Black Mountain College by integrating historical inquiry with ecological symbolism, emphasizing the interconnectedness of creativity, land, and memory. By embracing interdisciplinary methods and centering community-based approaches, I seek to honor and extend Black Mountain College’s legacy in ways that are relevant to the present and future. 

Meredith Ahmed is an artist, researcher, and emerging archivist whose work bridges storytelling, material culture, and collective memory. Rooted in archival practices and community histories, they explore how the tangible and intangible shape our understanding of the past. With a foundation in Art History and Africana Studies from Warren Wilson College and a Master of Library and Information Science in progress at the University of Iowa, Meredith’s work is driven by historical inquiry, social justice, and anti-colonial frameworks. Their research reimagines archives as dynamic spaces of cultural memory, centering underrepresented voices and lived experiences. Through historical research and visual storytelling, they delve into themes of place-based knowledge, resistance, and creative reimagination. Based in Appalachia, Meredith continues to explore the deep connections between land, memory, and artistic practice.