DaeQuan Alexander Collier
I am a Bronx-born artist and writer who works diligently to build worlds across forms. Driven by curiosity, I create experiences that invite people to look a little closer at the world—and imagine it differently.
Education
Emerson College
MFA Screenwriting
2021
New York University, Tisch Scool of the Arts
BFA Film & Television
2018
Storyteller In Residence
Melting Metropolis Project, London
2025
SHIFT Residency
Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, NY
2025
Arts Writing Incubator
Black Embodiments Studio, Seattle
2025
Video Art Residency
BRIC Arts Media, NY
2025
Create Change Fellowship
The Laundromat Project, NY
2023
(RE)ASSEMBLAGE: SHIFT Residency
Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, NY
2025
What's Next: Art for Tomorrow,
Emerson Contemporary, Boston, MA
2021
Wood, vinyl, standard-definition video (color, sound;
5:31 min.), LCD monitor, glass
32 x 48 x 18 inches
Wood, objects in various media, standard-definition
video (color, sound; 1:51 min.), LCD monitor
36 x 24 x 3 inches
Concrete, wood, cement, standard-definition video
(color, sound; 13:25 min.), LCD monitor
38 x 26 x 14 inches
I’m interested in how material forms—particularly found objects— can hold memory, and how digital media might animate them with new presence. At the core of this exploration is a question: Can an object inhabit spirit?
Much of this work is rooted in the church I grew up in, a place that shaped my understanding of spirituality, ritual, and community. It’s now a place marked by absence—many members, including my father, have passed, and the building itself faces closure amidst rapid gentrification. As I process these changes, I find myself drawn to this space as the site of inquiry.
In response, I’ve been crafting sculptural installations that embed sound and video within everyday or sacred objects, layering archival footage, home video, and oral histories. By fusing digital media with the physical, I’m exploring how technology can carry spirit—how it might serve as a conduit for memory, ritual, and healing. These works aim to demonstrate a practice of making space for what persists when so much else disappears.
a place in the sun, video (15:58 runtime) 2024 is a visual poem that explores how Black people find their way to joy and emotional wellbeing through poetry, archival video, music, found clips, family interviews, and stylized surrealist scenes. The past three years have stretched the collective emotional, spiritual and physical capacities for Black people in this country, and I thought about how vital it is for us to seek joy and healing. I personally have experienced so much and I wrote the film to delve deeper into this. a place in the sun is the representation of that.