Annessa De La Cruz
Annessa De La Cruz is the founder of Nameless LA – a creative platform that brings physical experiences to life through different mediums Since 2017 Annessa (Nameless) has leveraged her platform as an art instillation, pop-up shop, editorial issue with space to grow into whatever it seeks.
In 2017 Annessa self-published her first poetry book entitled Nameless: A Post-Traumatic Self This also catalyzed her love for creating activations from her works in order to engage with community In collaboration with Pakkard Studio – a former Black owned gallery in downtown LA, she brought A Post-Traumatic Self to life in a way that set the tone for all future Nameless projects Shortly after her first book release and instillation, Annessa taught herself how to DJ She quickly became a household name among DJ’s in Los Angeles as DJ Nameless, spinning all kinds of sounds from 90s-2000’s R&B, hip hop, trap and oldies Through gathering with folks at parties and events her desire for community engagement and organizing deepened and she quickly realized that everything Nameless related would have a bigger aim – essentially Nameless became for the people.
Combining her love for community, Black culture, and streetwear, Annessa released her first capsule collection titled “Have A Good Day” which included thirteen ready-to-wear pieces that celebrated Blackness. The culminating pop-up shop in collaboration with Play Nice Gallery in Long Beach helped the phrases on the pieces become Black joy affirmations among the Black communities in Long Beach and beyond. From making bold statements with her first capsule, she quickly found herself taking more risks and trusting the support of her community.
Among the racial and economic tension that took place in early 2020, Annessa became acutely concerned with the backlash a lot of large organizations were facing due to not adequately distributing funds in support of the Black community Annessa saw an opportunity to cut out the middle man and started Black Seeds, a direct impact initiative that uses merch sales to fund the ideas and education of Black Youth Through this program she funded the cost of supplies and equipment for several high-school students to enrich their small business She also provided scholarships for two Black women to become Doula’s with an aim to combat issues Black women face while giving birth Black Seeds will continue in the future as a non-profit organization under the Nameless umbrella.
As an ITS-IN-SCOPE fellow, Annessa honed in on love, time, movement, and nature as her areas of study. Her culminating material artifact ACCENTS is a vinyl record composed of conversations and live instrumentation. This contribution to the archive merges the world of DJ’ing and art with her personal traveling experiences. Her upcoming projects foreshadow a future that involves more daring perspectives, and a call to build new infrastructure by challenging peers and community members to leave old power structures behind and build new ones that benefit underprivileged folks.
