Oasis in the Woods: Art and Wellness Chantel on the Art of Kongolese Ceremony

Six artists will answer this question with land-based art installations during a week-long artist residency at Juniper's Garden. Chantel Bennett's preferred pronouns are she/her. She holds a Master's degree in Social Work. She believes in dreaming before thinking as you climb the ladder of trust and power. This is beautifully captured in the words of Toni Morrison.

Chantel (she/her) is a Caribbean-American multidisciplinary artist and spiritual diviner. She hasn't found a medium she won't try at least once and often cycles through periods of focusing on one or three mediums more than others. She is currently focusing on fiber arts and collage.

After learning how to knit through TikTok and YouTube University, she is working on replacing her storebought sweaters and knitwear with clothes she knit or crocheted herself. She learned how to crochet from her mother at a young age and often has at least two fiber projects going at once. 

During the Oasis in the Woods Arts and Wellness Festival, she presented in her installation symbols of the ritual and festive expressions of the Congo culture, encompassing the contemporary vision of a collective celebration of the black rebel descendants enslaved during the colonial period. Her groundings signified the gathering of energy from the four corners of the universe.