Black History Month: Bisa Butler
For Black History Month, I thought I'd share some of the visual and literary artists who inspire me. Let’s talk about:
Bisa Butler and her work. Photo credit: BisaButler.com
Butler is a New Jersey-based textile artist. She’s known for her stunning quilted portraits of Black people, which look like collages pieced together with West African fabrics. Even if you don't know her by name, you've probably seen her work by now: her portrait of "Black Panther" actor Chadwick Boseman is full of color, joy, and sorrow. I love her work for so many reasons, including:
her incredible skill at creating shading and depth
her frequent use of vintage photos as reference material, many of which I recognize.
The next time you see her name and work, look closely at the eyes of the portrait subject. They're unbelievably expressive, even though they're literally just bits of cloth.
Now that I’ve introduced you to a couple of outstanding visual artists, let’s take a look at a writer I love. Stay tuned for the next blog post…
Should they stay or should they go?
Now that we have a (new) president again, I’m faced with a bit of a dilemma: should I dump the Trump protest art?
This question comes to mind after the Museum of London announced it’s adding the original Trump Baby balloon to its collection. You might remember London protesters “welcomed” the former president with the mini-blimp in July 2018.
And just in time for that year’s Seattle Art Fair, my husband surprised me with the t-shirt version.
Ordinarily, I hoard — I mean, “collect” — things like this for my collages and assemblage sculptures as part of my practice. And it’s common for some museums to collect protest-related ephemera as material culture. In fact, the Smithsonian Institute recently acquired posters and other stuff left behind by pro-Trump insurrectionists on January 6th. But do I really want to remember this era so clearly?
And as the Trump Baby balloon makers pointed out, “…we’re under no illusions that this is the end of the story.” So what should I do with the hat and the t-shirt? Drop a suggestion on my Facebook or Instagram.
Coming soon: "Locally Sourced"
If you've never been to the Pacific Northwest, this "Portlandia" sketch will give you a (slightly exaggerated) taste of the obsession over 'local origins.'
What -- and who -- qualifies as "local?" That's the Big Question behind our exhibit at the Columbia City Gallery.
All four contributing artists are women of color who've lived here for a long time: Carletta Carrington Wilson, Bernadette Merikle, Susan Ringstad Emery and me. I think of us all as local, as familiar as coffee in Seattle. But you know how people talk about coffee here: like it's some rare, exotic thing seen only once in a blue moon.
Not surprising, then, that a coffee-related marketing blurb encapsulated that paradox, which I wanted to convey in my collages: "Rare & Exquisite."
Each of us artists has a different take on being local. Carletta's textile work speaks to migrations through time and space. Bernadette imagines her ancestors deciding the question of local origins. And Susan, who calls herself an urban Iñupiat, considers Native (and "native") Seattle icons. Come see for yourself: the opening reception for "Locally Sourced" is May 19th at 5pm PST. Hope to see you in a few hours!