Ahkelo’s Walk
By artist Annette Lawrence and poet Nikky Finney
April 17-18 2025 at 7:30 pm
At The Black Box Theatre in Swain Hall
This multilayered correspondence explores how time is neither energy nor matter. It addresses past and future, with handwritten text and images projected on screens surrounding the stage like celestial bodies in orbit. The performance offers viewers multiple entry points for reflection on themes of memory, identity, and remembrance as they witness the evolution of this living letter.
Annette Lawrence’s recent work, Akhelo’s Walk, involves counting days by walking miles. It is a natural extension of her practice of recording everyday occurrences in drawings, paintings, and installations. Like her other works, this project reflects her commitment to finding meaning and beauty in what life brings. Lawrence now serves as Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Nikky Finney is the author of On Wings Made of Gauze, Rice, The World is Round, and Head Off & Split, which won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2011. Her new collection, Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry, was released in 2020. Finney is Carolina Distinguished Professor at USC in Columbia, where she is also Director of the Ernest A. Finney, Jr. Cultural Arts Center.