Symone Lakes is an Atlanta based contemporary artist whose work explores fashion and beauty as a form of personal and political expression. She constructs portraits with paint and paper, often incorporating images of unconventional items, as she believes “what it’s made for and how we use it doesn’t have to align.” Symone takes a stylist’s approach by “accessorizing” with markers, fabrics, embossing powders to finish each “look.”
Symone Lakes is an Atlanta based contemporary artist whose work explores fashion and beauty as a form of personal and political expression. She constructs portraits with paint and paper, often incorporating images of unconventional items, as she believes “what it’s made for and how we use it doesn’t have to align.” Symone takes a stylist’s approach by “accessorizing” with markers, fabrics, embossing powders to finish each “look.”
As a Black girl growing up in the 90s my bedroom walls were covered in posters from popular publications like, Word Up!, Yo!, and Right On! Seeing the women portrayed in these magazines would help shape my views on fashion, feminism, and what it meant to be a confident, powerful, and conscious Black woman. It showed how style could be used to convey a message about myself and my beliefs without having to speak.
Mimicking these looks at home required an ingenuity born from limited financial means and the lack of physical access to the products I saw featured in these magazines. For me, collaging parallels this creative process—utilizing items already on hand, reinterpreting and reimagining them, and demonstrating that intent and practice need not align. It’s a cultural practice of making the best of what you have.
Whether digital or analog, each piece begins by sifting through and cutting imagery from both contemporary and vintage magazines. Sometimes, those clippings will be assembled, scanned and finished digitally. Other times, each individual piece is scanned and enlarged to create poster sized works reminiscent of the images I liked to hang on my bedroom walls. For these pieces, I like to finish by accessorizing with acrylic paints, fabric, markers, and any type of embellishment that makes for a more individual expression unique to each woman depicted.
SOLO EXIBITIONS
2019- 1 of Minnie, (Atlanta, Georgia)
MURALS/LIVE PAINTING
2020- Google for Start Ups (Atlanta, Georgia)
2019- Curls, Kinks, and Culture (Atlanta Georgia)
2019- Taliah Waajid World Natural Hair Show (Atlanta, Georgia)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025- Pink Silo (Chattanooga, TN)
2025- The Seed & The Sower (Fayetteville, NC)
2020- Power to the Woman (Atlanta, Georgia)
2020- Afro Art (Hapeville, Georgia)
2019- Tints and Shades (Hapeville, Georgia)
2019- A Spectacular Black Girl Art Show (Atlanta, Georgia)
2018- Black Excellence Forever (Atlanta, Georgia)
2010- The All Pink Everything, Fashion Show (Atlanta, GA)
2010- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Fashion Show (Atlanta, GA)
COMMISSIONS
2024- University of Alabama, Department of Theater and Dance (Tuscaloosa, AL)
PUBLICATIONS/MEDIA
2019 – Voyage ATL “Meet Symone Symone of Omi Grace in Covington”
AWARDS/RECOGNITION
2024- Short List, Category: Fashion (Single Image),
Contemporary Collage Awards by Contemporary Collage Magazine
OTHER
2024- Partner, Essence Festival SOKO MKT (New Orleans, LA)
2024- Panel, “Dear Sister,” University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL)
2021- Speaker, Netflix XD Speakers Series (Virtual)
2019 – Target + Essence Holiday Market (Atlanta, GA)
2019- 2021 Featured Artist, FLR-PLN (Atlanta, Georgia)
EDUCATION
2005- B.A. African American Studies, Mercer University
“Style has a profound meaning to Black Americans. If we can’t drive, we will invent walks and the world will envy the dexterity of our feet. If we can’t have ham, we will boil chitterlings; if we are given rotten peaches, we will make cobblers; if given scraps, we will make quilts; take away our drums, and we will clap our hands. We prove the human spirit will prevail. We will take what we have to make what we need. We need confidence in our knowledge of who we are.”
-NIKKI GIOVANNI
