The Kintsugi Altarpiece- detail
In this work I explore the stories of women only once removed from the bonds of slavery, when millions of African-Americans fled the South in search of a better life in a “Great Migration" that would forever change the face of America. Many fear teaching history's truth about systemic racism may engender shame, but for me the true shame is having to unlearn a history that tells less than the whole story. A more complete history brings back the voices of those who have been intentionally silenced. It is time, in the words of the Black National Anthem, to "lift every voice."
Using 100 year old historical portraits which often feel strikingly modern, along with period documents, textures from my drawing and paintings, layered with pages from a 1919 antique book, "The Trees of Pennsylvania," I hope to create images that give voice to stories too long silent and restore dignity to women striving to escape their chains, both literal and figurative, while exploring the layering of time and memory as these women went on to create wide-growing family trees, putting down roots in fertile new lands.
The Kintsugi Altarpiece- detail
In this work I explore the stories of women only once removed from the bonds of slavery, when millions of African-Americans fled the South in search of a better life in a “Great Migration" that would forever change the face of America. Many fear teaching history's truth about systemic racism may engender shame, but for me the true shame is having to unlearn a history that tells less than the whole story. A more complete history brings back the voices of those who have been intentionally silenced. It is time, in the words of the Black National Anthem, to "lift every voice."
Using 100 year old historical portraits which often feel strikingly modern, along with period documents, textures from my drawing and paintings, layered with pages from a 1919 antique book, "The Trees of Pennsylvania," I hope to create images that give voice to stories too long silent and restore dignity to women striving to escape their chains, both literal and figurative, while exploring the layering of time and memory as these women went on to create wide-growing family trees, putting down roots in fertile new lands.