Nuzzled in a submarine valley of surreality, I am 1,800 meters under water; inhaling sand at the bottom of the world… The Earth is simultaneously blatantly aggressive and dreamlike, and each blink (and rapid closing of my eyes) shuttles me between microcosms, causing vertigo from the ricochet. I am alive, I am stirred. I am drowsing, I am insomnolent. I am asleep, I am entombed. I am inspired, I am still. I am resolute, and I am "cogito, ergo sum" –– thinking...

There’s a meme floating around which reads: “Someone once asked me, if you could go back in time, which era would you choose, and I laughed and said, ‘Honey, I’m Black.’” It’s meant to be satirical, but as a Black woman who’s deeply fascinated by the sultry glamour of Old Hollywood – from its Hollywood regency interior designs to the enigmatic actresses who dominated the silver screens – the shadowy truth of this statement hits home. As it pertains to...