Transcript of Audio

Hello, my name is Sylvia Marshall and today I will be talking about Kara Walker’s Resurrection with Patrons. 

Kara Walker created Resurrection with Patrons in 2017. Resurrection is a series of three etchings created with aquatint, spit-bite, sugar-lift, and drypoint on metal plate, and then printed onto woven paper. Agnes Scott College has the 5th edition out of 25 prints.  

Walker did a smaller study of the center panel in 2016 entitled Monumentality. The work was a part of an exhibition called the “Ecstasy of St. Kara”. The exhibition sought to grapple with the questions of race relations in the United States, both past and present. In the exhibition, Walker draws inspiration from contemporary America rather than Southern plantation life as she does in her other works.  Resurrection with Patrons represents a more refined version of the thematic and formal elements seen in Monumentality. In both pieces, Walker speaks to the legacy of America’s struggle of racial violence.

Walker unfolds her narrative across three panels. Two figures, a male and female, act as the patrons. Both are placed in profile, flanking the sides of the center panel on the left and the right. The figures are white against a dark background in a reverse silhouette, a choice that allows Walker to add dimension and detail to the clothing and faces of the patrons. The gray shadows accentuate the prominent brow and enlarged lips and noses of the patrons. The shadows also give shape to the clothing and suggest that these figures are from the Antebellum period.  Evidenced by the style of the jacket and ribbons upon the male figure and the apron and headwrap on the female figure.

 The patrons help to guide the viewer to the main narrative in the middle panel. The positioning of the patrons in profile sets their attention toward the center, their eyes and extended arms providing a guide towards this narrative. In the background of the patron panels, one can see diagonal planks crossing in the background. These planks connect to those framing the center panel and help guide the viewer’s gaze as well. 

The middle panel contains the main narrative of this piece. It is composed of a three-part division of space: the foreground, midground, and the background.   Moving from the planks and further into the foreground reveals natural lines and forms which indicate shrubbery and earth and provides contrasts to the linear lines of the planks that lie along the edges of the panel. The introduction of a white and gray free-flowing form breaks up the darkness in the foreground and mimics water. A connection is created from the intersecting planks along the panel to this flowing form. This rush of water receding into space draws the viewer’s gaze into the midground.

The midground contains the most movement. Figures of Black women, men, and children struggle to raise the figure of a black woman from the ground. Her size and position mark her as the protagonist of the scene. The entire scene is in motion with the smaller figures leaning and contorting themselves around this woman. The pattern of movement is broken by a lone male figure standing on top of a mound to the right of the scene. He stands separated from the group, with a straight spine facing the background while his head tilts towards the action on his left. His stillness signals that his task is done and connects to the stillness seen in the background. 

The background holds the least amount of movement but contains elements that highlight the large female figure. The triangular clouds frame the protagonist in the center. Shadows are cast on the surface of the ocean which points towards her. The sharp vertical peaks rising from the horizon line adds visual interest and gives the viewer a setting for the scene suggests that this narrative is taking place along the coastline,  overlooking a body of water. The peaks in the distance indicating another place just out of reach.

The most striking element of Resurrection is the centrality and importance of the large female figure. Every element across all three panels relate to her in some way. The patrons act as a bridge to her, their stance directing the viewer towards the middle panel–towards her. She towers above the other figures in the center panel, the bodies of the Black men, women, and children contorting themselves around her. The smaller figures on her left connect with her through the lines attached to her neck. The figures on the right relate to her through touch, their hands pushing on the back. The lone male standing on the right side of the center panel connects with her through sight. He faces the ocean in the background, however, his head is turned towards the protagonist. Additionally, she stands as the darkest element across all three panels. Looking closer at the piece, the smaller figures are all off- black whereas the protagonist is a deeper, rich black. Her darkness is emphasized through the triangular clouds in the background which centers her as the focal point of the piece and brings out her darkness through its contrasting black and gray coloring. The lack of movement from the protagonist adds to her distinction. While the figures around her move in some fashion in relation to this figure, no action arising from her and she is mostly being acted upon rather than engaging with those around her. The inclusion of the eye on her profile elevates her from the other figures in Resurrection. It gives her expression and breathes life into her. The eye distinguishes her from an inanimate shrine and directs her gaze outward towards the viewer. The display of the narrative carries a religious connotation and adds greater meaning to the centrality of the female figure. 

Walker unfolds her narrative in the form of a traditional triptych, a style usually associated with the Renaissance and religion. Triptychs were traditionally used for altarpieces to tell biblical stories and relay religious themes. Portraits of those who commissioned the works would commonly be placed along the side of the main narrative. These were usually powerful and wealthy individuals. However, the patrons that Walker gives us do not necessarily fall within that definition, and contrast with the traditional images of wealth and status seen among patrons in traditional triptychs. However, the patrons do create a distinct story.

The female patron reaches forward, the motion indicated by the bend of her elbow and the line of her arm which extends until she nearly touches the edge of her frame. The positioning of the hand and the outstretched arm implies a sense of devotion, or a desire to become a part of the scene. In contrast, the male patron does not reach. Instead, he illuminates. The male holds a lit candle outstretched in front of him, the wax melting in between his fingers. The candle pushes in the direction of the center panel. The candle could be symbolic of prayer, like a votive candle.

Resurrection with Patrons leaves more questions than answers and forces the viewer to question what they are seeing. We are placed into the middle of a story, and the more you look at the piece the more ambiguous the story becomes. There are many different interpretations of  Resurrection with Patrons. The scene could be symbolic of trying to reclaim lost heritage, the struggle of identity among African-Americans, or the piece could be alluding to the centuries of struggle with race in America. In Resurrection with Patrons, Walker challenges the viewer to engage with the broader social and political questions left by the legacy of slavery in the United States.

Thank you

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She is drawing a lot of inspiration in her research from the content to how she should go about visually displaying the themes she wants.  It was interesting to see that she drew inspiration from other sources outside of those relating to Uncle Tom’s Cabin such as the “Water Towers” by Bernd and Hilla Becher. Lynch engages with the images and the way they are presented. It would be interesting to see how she goes about inserting her voice in this narrative as she talked about before. The representational style of the Bechers mixed with the imagery from Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the interpretation of Lynch would be a visual feast in my opinion.

I also loved her organization and I really wished I had thought of some of this when I was doing my Pecha Kucha. The mind mapping, the use of Pinterest, and Google Drive are clear and effective methods for exploring her research. Having the work spread out in front of her also went along with her concept of “sitting with the research”. This idea of seeing what comes to you which is something that I might want to do more of going into my senior seminars. Even though both anthropology and history are not as visually focused as art history or studio art, I have found that I am becoming more interested in the visual produced during a time period.  I recently read a book where the author used advertisements as “plausible inference” into the discourse and practices of the period which is something that I might also want to incorporate into my work.

I also want to keep in mind her advice about doing the research and knowing what is out there and learning to build on the canon. How can you contribute more to it?

“I came to realize the extent to which my hair bridged the space between personal identity and a larger social politic. Hair, I learned that year, is significant” (Rooks, 1998, p. 1)

I have finished gleaning information from Noliwe Rooks’ Hair Raising. Rooks explores the historical and cultural aspects of the politics of hair in the African-American community from the early 19th century to the 1990s. and I wanted to share some of the things that interested me the most from her book:

• “politics of acceptance” (4)
• What she is describing of the salon is an example of socialization. These series of experiences and interactions from which she learns her identity in the social world and how to norms and behaviors of the black female community
• Connecting to Adamu and Clark with the idea of the styling of hair as social, community-driven and based
  • The intimacy of hair doing( washing and styling)
• Rooks points out that hair and the decisions around it not only point to a positioning in the white or dominant community, it also has one in the black community in relation to African-Americans
  • “Its style could lead to acceptance or rejection from certain groups and social classes, and its styling could provide the possibility of a career” (6)
• Rook starts with setting up her own experiences with her hair and then broadened those experiences to include the wider society in order to see patterns and make sense of them
• In the 1970s with the rise of the Black Power Movement, hair became a symbol imbued with political meaning and associated with social change
• She reveals this discourse between pride and shame, integration/ assimilation and liberation in regards to black hair
• She gives rich descriptions about hair and the process of hairstyling. The time taken to conjure the imagery of hair constructs it as a character in a story
• She states that she uses ethnographic interviewing as one of her methods. She went to black hair salons and talked with the women there and got a sense of the social setting
  • Would be interesting to attempt for my own senior project because it gives a visual to the text
  • It adds meaning and evidence to the analysis
• Need to look into: “Straightening Our Hair” by bell hooks
• Viewing advertisements as a plausible inference about social thought of a period
• Hair straightening and natural hair caught in a matrix of gender, class, race, hair, and culture
• Straight hair as a point of respect and acceptance within the African-American middle-class
• Examines hair in African-American communities in the 19th century through advertisements, particularly looking at how Madam C.J. Walker revolutionized the black haircare industry
• Need to look into: beauty parlors in the 1830s (what did they say about haircare in that time)/ the function of beauty parlors in the African-American communities
  
• Rooks uses images, conceptualizing and anaylzing them, to gain insight into haircare in this period

Project Tracking

Dec. 1: Reading Hair Raising, 12:00-2:30

Dec. 2: Reading Hair Raising, 11:00-12:30

Dec. 3: Reading Hair Raising, 11:30-12:45

Dec. 4: Finishing Hair Raising and organizing notes, 3:15-5:00

An anthropologist takes field notes about what they see and experience around them, and I want to expand on that practice to include visual media. There is something about the process of replicating the world around you that forces you to look deeper versus just taking a picture. Painting, speaking specifically about landscape and still life work, requires an awareness that applies to my specific field of interest in history and in anthropological research.

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In sociology, there is a concept called the sociological imagination. Introduced by C. Wright Mills, the sociological imagination is about an understanding of the relationship between the individual experience and the wider society. Making a connection with art, people draw on their individual identity and experiences to create art and engage in visual conversation. The messages they are trying to convey, the medium used, and the style used to connect in some way to the wider society.

Personally, hair and I have also been through a sort of journey with each other.  The first conception of my hair was sitting in the beautician’s chair having my hair washed and then braided with little beads being attached (sleeping in those were the worst, but they were fun). I have memories, like Clark, of sitting in between the thighs of older women while they twisted and plaited my hair. Memories of those barrettes, the bow-shaped ones and the ones with the ball on the end that snapped back into your skull. Memories of my grandma straightening my hair with a hot comb and me holding down my ears in an effort to keep them. Memories of trying to keep it straight in the hot, humid Georgia summers. The chemical smell of the relaxer and the burning of it (because as the saying goes “the more it burns the better is working”) as I waited for it to do its thing.  Memories of Blue Magic, Pink Lotion, and Softee Hair Gel. Memories of sew-in weaves, clip-on ponytails, micro-braids, box braids, and perms.

Click to view slideshow.

I went natural around 5 years ago now while I was a junior in high school. I started gradually with wearing sew-ins my freshman and part of my sophomore year of high school and then wearing my hair straightened for part of my junior year. In hindsight straightening my hair that much was not healthy, at least to the level I was in an effort to keep my hair straight my junior year. But, I was hesitant to wear my hair in its natural state out. After stalking natural hairstyle channels on Youtube and natural hair blogs, I made the step to stop straightening my hair. My junior year of high school I did my first twist out. It was new, it was a slight struggle figuring out what I needed to do, and I was apprehension to how people would react. That apprehension I felt is something I wanted to look deeper into. I was afraid of being looked at negatively and people reacting negatively. I was afraid of how my hair would change the people’s view of me.

Click to view slideshow.

But why? Hair is just hair, right?

The mixed bag of feelings toward my hair and in my natural hair journey is not something that applies just to me it seems. There are larger social, historical, and cultural forces at work and I want to know about them. I think Sonya Clark has tapped into a large reservoir when she started working with hair. Hair has collective meaning and memory. It is that collective meaning and that collective memory that I want to explore. It is from this standpoint that I chose Sonya Clark’s work and the standpoint from which I started my research.

There is just something about hair that is deeply personal, cultural, and social. Clark’s work with hair and her reasons for working with hair points to hair as an important factor in the lives of black women. There have been several questions I’ve been tossing around in my head:

• What are the implications of hair? In a social context? In a cultural context?
• What does hair say about us?
• How is African American hair historically and socially defined?

To try and even wrap my head around these concepts and themes I turned to history and anthropology/sociology. I’ve gotten a lot from my readings and I’ve managed to do a brain dump of the info. from several different articles. This was compiled over several days and sadly did not catalog the time specifically, but I have bibliography!

•  From a historical standpoint, the relationship between black women and their hair started in Africa and was transported, like the women themselves, to America into slavery.
• Hair for the Africans was a signifier of age, community, wealth, ethnic identity, religion, and much more. Hairstyling could take up to several days to complete.
• The grooming of hair was one of the focal points in Africa women’s lives not only because hair held the power to identify oneself, but also because hairstyling was an important bonding social activity for women (qtd. in Patton, 2006, 5).
• Hairstyling continues to be something social which is something Sonya Clark points out. Like Clark and others, I associate haircare with communing with other women. In contemporary times, that communion has also been moved onto the Internet.
• The negative light in which black women began to view their hair came from the practices of slavery. The type of hair and hairstyle that were worn by slave women typically determined where they worked and what type of work they engaged in. Slaves with straighter hair and characteristically Eurocentric features tended to work within the house, a job that was coveted among the slaves due to the lack of field work, and the slaves with kinky “African-like” hair and features tended to work out in the fields doing back-breaking work (qtd. in Patton, 2006,  6).
• Language, along with historical usage of certain words, acted as an unconscious factor of enculturation which teaches black generations to view their hair with disapproval. Terms often used to describe black hair such as “nappy”, “wooly”, “kinky”, and “frizzy” carries negative undertones and associations. In contrast, words used to describe white hair such as “smooth”, “flowing”, and “silky” invoke positive tones and images (qtd. in Johnson, 2013, 15).
•   “Beauty is subject to the hegemonic standards of the ruling class” (Patton,2006, 3).
• Through racial hierarchy practices such as assigning slaves that closely match the Eurocentric standard to less degrading work and other such discriminations, black women began to internalize the negativity associated with their hair. The internalization of such ideology remained through generations of black women and the black community as a whole.
• ” … harmful messages from enslavement about hair adornment, texture, and length are still conveyed to Black women (across the Diaspora) and even today this hampers choices and attitudes about Black hair” ( Johnson, 2013, 9).
• Paulette Caldwell in her article, “Hair Piece”,  describes her personal choice to wear braids within the law professional world. She describes a disagreement between her mother and herself regarding Caldwell wearing an Afro to her graduation from law school and she states, “I will graduate at the top of my class, receive more honors than I know what to do with…My hair undoes all of this…” (Caldwell, 1991, 19).
• Caldwell’s experience reveals lingering internal bias toward black hair, whether in its natural state or in an Afrocentric hairstyle, and the idea among African Americans that in order to succeed and secure prestige one must have straight hair.
• Black women, throughout the years, define themselves and each other by the way they style and groom their hair, and in conjunction, hair becomes a medium used by black women as a means of self-identification or self-expression (Johnson, 2013, 4).
• The experience of Stacia Brown (2015) in her piece, “My Hair, My Politics” where she writes, “One friend admonished me to avoid braid, suggesting I’d be replacing one stereotype (militant) with another (ghetto)” (1).
• “Because hair is an ethnic signifier, the choice of natural hairstyle can be read by the dominant culture as a troublesome sign” (Johnson, 2013, 1).
• In recent years there has been a rise of black women choosing to adopt natural hairstyles whether for the health of their hair or for a political statement. Either way, the decision to abandon white hegemony and go against cultural ideology in favor of a juxtaposing image challenges the monopoly of Eurocentric standards within America and repositions those standards.

Brown, Stacia L. “My Hair, My Politics.” New Republic 246.11 (2015): 16. Advanced  Placement Source. Web. 13 Nov. 2018.

Caldwell, Paulette M. “A Hair Piece: Perspectives on the Intersection of Race and Gender.” Duke Law Journal, vol. 1991, no. 2, 1991, pp. 365–396. Web. 12 Nov. 2018

Greene, D. Wendy. “Black Women Can’t Have Blonde Hair … In The Workplace.” The Journal Of Gender, Race & Justice 14. (2011): 405. LexisNexis Academic: Law Reviews. Web. 12 Nov. 2018.

Johnson, Elizabeth. Resistance And Empowerment In Black Women’s Hair Styling. Burlington: Routledge, 2013. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 12 Nov. 2018.

Patton, Tracey O. “Hey Girl, Am I More than My Hair?: African American Women and Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair.” NWSA Journal, vol. 18, no. 2, 2006,  pp. 24–51. Web. 14 Nov. 2018

I found some videos of Sonya Clark giving talks about her work and her inspiration. This stretched out several days and goes over 6 hours (though I’m not complaining because I enjoy hearing her talk).

“Sonya Clark: Hair to There: Weaving Tales with Textiles”

Southern Symbols: Sonya Clark

Measuring Histories-Sonya Clark

So here are some of the essentail tidbits I got from each talk:

• The basis of her work centers around this quotation by Toni Morrison that delves into this idea of holding memory.
• She talks about finding your authentic obsession: Explore it, connect it, and never let it go.
•  Clark’s obsession and thesis centers around hairdressing being a “primordial” fiber art form, this connection between textiles and hairdressing.
• Clark started with textiles because of how material aids in dialogue–she’s interested in cloth and textiles and how they work in metaphysical ways.
• I find her interest in clothing and cloth are important in anthropology because it’s a gateway to understanding social structures, religious practices, and regional practices. It’s a physical, tangible representation of culture.
• She’s interested in how artwork engages in dialogue
• Cloth as DNA, as something that structures who we are.
• She’s interested in how the materiality contains memory and heritage.
• Textiles were a way to connect with her heritage.
• Questions that Clark’s work brings up: How do textiles have power? How do textiles carry cultural capital?
• Mixes textiles in a way that mixes meanings and narratives to create a certain truth
• The idea of the collective and collective memory
• The connection of hairdressing to ritual activity. An activity of love, of connection, of cultural practices, etc.
• Hairdressing as historical ritual processes that encompasses human interaction and creating within a specific group. It’s tangible.
• Triangle Trade = cornrows symbolic of African bodies moving through this human trafficking system.
• Clark tries to actively engage viewers in these themes and question she explores.
• Cloth as a monument
• “The personal becomes universal”
• Hair as who and what we are. Heavily contestd and heavily politized.
• Hair as a portrait of the self and of history

Art Papers was founded in the 1970s in an effort to serve artists and bring them together in the area. Art Papers goes beyond just art, the magazine’s mission is centered around the issue of “art and ______”. Art and the environemt. Art and urban development. Art and history. Art and whatever you can insert into the phrase. This moves the magazine beyond just the aesthetic and adds more to the publication in my opinion.

Hearing Saskia talks about the organization and the running of the paper brought up the issues that small publications and small organizations such as this face in terms of finding funding and carving out a purpose. It was fun going to Art Papers and learning about the many different hats someone working in the creative field can have. Saskia herself having experience working in a museum and now helping to run a publication. It gave us all a taste of the possibility in the real world, plus we got 4 of their newest editions and who can complain about that.