"BURN Alter" - Antoinette Ellis-Williams |
"Black on Black, on Black, on Black, on Black, on Black, on Black"- Antoinette Ellis-Williams |
My Selfie inspired by Antoinette Ellis-Williams' "Orange Leaves Sister"
The exhibition BURN: Origins & Resistance entails
Antoinette Ellis-Williams exploration in her own self identity when it comes to
her struggle, journey, and experiences of growing up as a black woman. She uses
her artwork to display her as well as other black women’s suffering of the “Burn”.
It’s an amazing exhibition that truly executes how strong black women are when
it comes to dealing with so much intolerance from such a young age. Some of her
work in the exhibition were more personal than others but that didn’t take away
from the overall message she’s trying to portray.
The
first piece of artwork that stood out to me in this exhibition would be her
piece called “BURN Altar”. There are two separate pieces to this display, so my
focus is going to be the one shown in the photos above. Immediately, the
immense scale of the artwork is what initially caught my eye with the piece
taking up a large portion of the wall. You can see the large woven cloth that
slowly begins to unravel as it descends to the floor. Behind this is a mural
that is covered in the names of famous black women as well as the names of
objects and other influences that have an impact on her. Some of the names
listed are Michelle Obama, Breonna Taylor, and Ella Fitzgerald among others.
What I admire about this piece is its showing of all who have had a significant
impact on black women throughout the years and empowered them to get them to
blossom to where they are today. In one of our readings called “The
Photographed, Collaged, and Painted Muses of Mickalene Thomas”, which discusses
the artist Mickalene Thomas and her messaging behind her work, she stated, “By
portraying real women with their own unique history, beauty and background, I’m
working to diversify the representation of back women in art” (Dunne, 2). I
think that this quote greatly describes this work of the exhibition. In this
piece, Antoinette Ellis-Williams uses the history, beauty and background of her
culture and ancestors on mural with the big wording. Another quote from this
reading is, “The curation, which consists of four distinct parts in a kind of
nesting doll arrangement, lets the viewer draw her own connections between Thomas’s
work in various mediums and that of her influences” (Dunne 4). I feel that this
can relate to Ellis-Williams’s piece as she also incorporates her influences
that have led the way for black women.
Another piece from this exhibition that I really liked was her piece titled “Black on Black, on Black, on Black, on Black, on Black, on Black”. On the surface, this painting may not look like much. But after looking deeper into its meaning, this painting has a much bigger picture to it. Upon its first viewing, one might just see a black square as I did at first, but as you get closer to the painting you can see that there are little bumps, edges, and texture to the painting that were intentional by the artist. Though there isn’t much description about what the painting is meant to be portraying, I feel that I have a good idea of what Ellis-Williams intended when making this interesting piece. I feel this painting is meant to be symbolic of her skin. She is a black woman who has gone through so much struggle that it was managed to leave bumps and scars on her being from going through a lot of injustice. So I believe that the texture on the painting are meant to symbolize these scars of her past. I may be wrong but I think it’s an interesting take on this painting. In a quote of the same article it states, “But the social commentary in her work is never heavy-handed or preachy; her approach throughout is both playful and political” (Dunne, 4). I think this quote describes what I feel Ellis-Williams is doing with this piece. She doesn’t create a dramatic image that tells the story of what she’s trying to say. Its message isn’t in your face and as clear as day. You have to stop and look and try your best to understand the photo on your own, and that I feel is what makes this painting so interesting to see.
The Art of Intervention
Quote #1: "Bertrande was found innocent; her crime was being a woman and thereby intellectually inferior and thus susceptible to persuasion and trickery." (Finkelstein, 44).
- I find it interesting that her "crime" is simply was a lot of people think of women especially when it comes to inferiority. Some think of women as small and weak and easily fooled, which obviously isn't the case.
Quote #2: "Martin may have felt the pressures of family expectations to build on the successes of the migrant experience." (Finkelstein, 47).
- I kind of relate to this quote because as the daughter of immigrants, it's sometimes hard to meet what they expect of me. It's understandable that they just want their children to succeed and to live a good life, but putting such expectations and pressures on your children will cause nothing but harm to the child further down the road.
Ways of Seeing
Quote #1: "Every image embodies a way of seeing." (Berger, 10).
- Every image created has its own story to it. With having its own story comes the viewer who looks at the image and uses perspective to come to their own conclusion about the image. A new image means a new perspective of it. A new way of seeing.
Quote #2: "Even a reproduction hung on a wall is not comparable in this respect for in the original the silence and stillness (of the original paintings) permeate the actual material, the paint, in which one follows the traces of the painter's immediate gestures." (Berger, 31).
- I think this topic is actually something that is relevant today because people tend to compare things with another. Whether it be a TV show with a reboot of itself, or a film with the same idea. Nothing can compare to an original as it has its own feeling in it that the creator intended for those who viewed it to feel. When looking at a reproduction of an image, you don't get the same feeling.
No comments:
Post a Comment