Rodney McMillian: "The act of surviving is enough"

UCLA Department of Art Professor Rodney McMillian's practice embodies a wide range of media and technique, and often confronts racial and socioeconomic injustice. McMillian’s most recent show at Vielmetter Los Angeles, "Body Politic," explores the body’s symbolic meaning and the relationship between politics and aesthetics.

It included sculptural works depicting body parts made of chicken wire and black fabric. Vividly-colored drawings used mixed media and text to narrate a history of the violence against Black bodies in the names of science and slavery.

“There needs to be a deep rooting out – of the racism, of the inequalities, of the brutality – that is plaguing this land," McMillian said.

In this interview with the UCLA Arts podcast Works In Progress, McMillian discusses this nation's racial reckoning, his use of color and materials, and how music and science fiction inspire his work.