BURN: Origins & Resistance
Art is a beautiful way to express the inner workings of the people around us. Everywhere we go and everything we see can be perceived as an art form including with the clouds scattered across the sky and the concrete pavement we walk on which when you look closely can form subtle patterns beneath your heels. Art has been found to be a positive contributor when it comes to helping develop motor skills, inventiveness, language skills, and what I find most important: the gift of intuitiveness. Art not only encourages us to conceptualize the world around us but it grants us lessons on how to observe the world around us with an open mindset.
Antoinette Ellis-Williams' piece Black on Black, On Black, on Black, on Black, on Black, on Black is a wonderous piece that hangs at the NJCU gallery. Black on Black… is an oil and cold wax piece that was created on a portrait canvas. There are many ways to interpret this spectacle of art which is what makes it so unique to those it captures the eyes of. When seeing the painting for myself I saw numerous meanings set on that lonesome canvas. Despite the name being a dead giveaway of what this art is physically I feel as if it is so blatant that it tells you every possible inner meaning, it could have. It is clear the brushstrokes left by the artist were intentionally scripting it to portray that every stroke had a meaning. It is a representation of covering up the pain of the millions who struggled before her. The brushstrokes found on this piece can also represent the recurring obstacles in life and that life is never always a straight path for some. I also see this painting as a portrayer of cycles in society and how some mistakes could be covered with the mistakes over and over again until the cycle is broken. Any other color could have been chosen but black is the color of power and evokes the emotions of anger and sadness. The struggles of African Americans have been seen for years and somehow we as a people still fail to recognize ongoing racism and other political issues going on in the country. This painting represents the erasing and covering of political injustice. I and other viewers can all agree a type of lingering sadness conveys out of this piece further proving it is an empathetic view.
Another piece of Antoinette Ellis-Williams’, My Americans Stitches Flag 2021. My Americans Stitches Flag 2021 is an art piece that represents what I interpret as an island and the textiles remind the viewers of what the artist may have worn in the region the artist came from. Pulka shells are centered on the piece in a circle which has a spot left for one shell in the middle probably being a representative of the heart of the piece. Since her artwork is titled “My Americans Stitches Flag” it is no surprise that this art can be interpreted to be what makes up the artist herself such as how her piece is stitched together of different articles that can represent different aspects and attributes of her life and image. Perhaps she conjured a flag of her own because the American flag did not make the artist feel included enough or accepting of her ethnicity and culture which is what makes this project so warm and welcoming to those who feel as if they may not belong.
In my piece, I take inspiration from Antoinette Ellis-Williams’ Black on Black. The foil imaged is crumbled and every time it is touched another wrinkle is added to its being making it impossible to revert it back to its natural state. Every wrinkle, similar to every brushstroke of black pain on Williams' canvas can not be easily undone and leaves an impression every time it is touched. This can be an allusion to the actions people take and how they impact us.
"Every image embodies a way of seeing." (Berger, 10).
This is a quote that reigns true for everything you observe throughout life. There are so many symbols that surround us that share great inner meaning and knowledge. These symbols can be seen through color and creations making everything we see derived meaning even when we do not seek its answers. Those who do recognize these signs further embody what makes us so cultured in all that we see teaching us not to take sights for granted.
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