Art & Visual Culture (AVC O9-O12)

 Silent suffering is a never-ending epidemic that haunts societies across the world today. These mental health issues are often ignored and/ or trivialized. I refer to what can be known as silent diseases. They are the mental diseases with no easily diagnosable symptoms. Anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder are only a few of the mental illnesses that exist. Sometimes these illnesses force the mind to go to dark places filled with negativity and self-deprecation. It can sometimes force a person to seek isolation, or feel alone in the midst of a crowd. My work seeks to offer a glimpse into what a day coping with silent suffering may feel like. I use mirrors, text, silence, darkness and confined spaces to warp one’s perception and invite participants to grapple with the negativity that creeps in.

 
Colorism is defined as social, financial, and political preference based on skin color. Some African Americans could pass for white and would denounce their race in order to fit in with their oppressors. Racism is more than just white or black. The discrimination of darker skin tones exists within the same racial groups. In the black community, colorism is very prominent and has been perpetuated throughout history. From the blue vein test to the paper bag test, there have been countless moments of discrimination based on complexion through traditional institutions and organizations such as church and college sororities/fraternities.
 
From India to Asia, skin bleaching is common in order to achieve and keep a fair complexion. Individuals in the Caribbean islands are also known to bleach their skin. I use skin tone complexions painted with acrylic on canvas. The canvases are juxtaposed to the skin products sold in local beauty supply stores in black communities that insinuate the need for complexion change. The labels on the products are detrimental to psyche of a woman of color while perpetuating the stereotype that being lighter is preferred. Due to constant changes within the beauty industry, people range from wanting lighter to darker skin. Regardless of the shade of preference, some individuals may prefer a different skin tone in order to align with beauty standards.

My work focuses on cultural capital, beauty, and possession in the black community. I saw a parallel between the Instagram posts of young black couples and Renaissance portraits and used both to inform my work. During the Renaissance, marriage was centered around the family, with little connection to love. Despite this, themes of love, beauty, and attraction were captivating to Renaissance men and women, and as a result, were common in artwork. Like the people of the Renaissance, I am drawn to themes of love, beauty, and attraction within the black community. I am inspired by popular trends amongst couples like the gifting of nameplate necklaces, and the matching of nail polish color to durags or bonnets of a significant other. These courtship practices have an underlying theme of possession and are intended to show the affiliation of oneself with another person. While I explored the theme of possession between members of the community, I also wanted to explore what it means to possess our culture as a whole. Black people are architects of modern trends, from durags and waves to braids and baby hairs. Because our culture is so rich, much of it is appropriated, often for the financial gain of others. Through this series, I would like to reclaim ownership by shifting the focus to the originators of these trends while capturing modern courtship activities within the community.

I use photography to lure observers in a dialogue with themselves where they're encouraged to re-evaluate their ideas on identity. I work toward challenging the stereotypes that affect various identities, and suggesting new ways of seeing and thinking that go beyond societal norms. Being that I, too, am a marginalized individual, I seek to make sense of my plight through interacting with individuals who are marginalized in their own respects. I admire people who are confident and embody characteristics that confront social binaries. Through this endevor, I anticipate society becoming more accepting of people and concepts that fall outside the spectrum.