OUTSIDE / INSIDE, 2021
RAFiA SANTANA
How to listen:
Play the audio for Inside/Outside below. To synchronize, adjust the audio track to match the current play-time of the timecode shown on the TV screen.
RaFia Santana
Born, raised and living in Brooklyn, NY, Rafia Santana is a multidisciplinary artist using animated graphics, self portraiture and music performance to self-soothe, seek pleasure, and crack jokes throughout their experiences in mental illness, chronic fatigue, sensory overload and everyday racial violence.
RaFia uses bright saturated colors and rhythm-centric productions to stimulate energy and attention. She performs her music against her animations projected onto her body and stage, using singing and rapping lyrics to bring her slogans to life.
RaFia has exhibited their work at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, MoCADA, Tate Britain, the Museum of the Moving Image, and Times Square. They have been featured in Vogue, Teen Vogue, Paper Magazine, Cultured Magazine, VICE, and other leading publications.
They have performed & participated in panels, discussions, and events at Black Portraitures at Harvard University, Pratt Institute's Department of Digital Arts, Newspace Center for Photography, Afrotectopia at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, & MoMA PS1.