tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63125032554480019842024-03-18T20:30:29.223-07:00Lauren Cross' Art BlogThoughts and opinons on my art making process, and the contemporary art scene.Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-60696301406417779352011-02-04T18:19:00.000-08:002011-02-04T19:04:11.400-08:00The Miseducation of Afrocentric Hair Video!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/0ePGTDVwyr4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>So I just created this video called "The Miseducation of Afrocentric Hair". I was moved to create this piece for a number of reasons: First, I've been extremely inspired by the multiplicity of resources made available to create content on the web. Second, I've been looking for simple ways to communicate my present research ( the rhetoric of Afrocentric hair in social and new media) in a interactive way, and third, it is the cheapest way to make a film!<br />
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Believe it or not, the third reason is what won me over. I've made a total of 5 films in my career and so far this one took the least time, money, and effort! I can't say that the effort isn't just as effective, and I certainly put a lot of thought into it. I truly believe that <a href="http://xtranormal.com/">xtranormal.com</a> could be a great screenwriting tool (saves time on drawing your own storyboards and plus you get to hear your thoughts out loud). Sure, you could pay $200+ on screenwriting software, but the process here is much more intuitive. I've seen quite a few people make some great films using <a href="http://xtranormal.com/">xtranormal.com</a>, most of the films that I've seen discuss complex career choices and even the challenges within African American relationships. It seems like a great platform to put theories into practice, and receive direct dialogue from your ideas.<br />
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Nevertheless, the debate on Afrocentric hairstyles and its acceptance within the African American community has frequently been on my mind, as I'm asked almost daily about my natural hair regimen. While I wrote a paper last semester on the rhetoric of Afrocentric hair, I'm now sure that my own thoughts were cloudy until a few weeks ago. For the past few weeks I've been approached by several <i>younger </i>(Hey, I'm still in my 20s ! LOL) African American women at my school (<a href="http://www.twu.edu/">TWU</a>) who have complimented me about how I style my hair. It's not that I did not believe it myself, however, I think that it's very telling to receive such a resounding response on a college campus (very different from the professional, corporate working world), which in my past college experiences were not always the case.<br />
These responses have made me think even deeper about my research, and it seems that things <i>are</i> changing. Even when stopping at my favorite cafe (La Madeline's) I was approached by a young lady behind the counter. We had an extensive 15 minute conversation about natural hair care products, specifically Kinky Curly, and why it's only sold at Whole Foods! I mean truly, a change is definitely happening, and it seems very real.<br />
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So I'm sure your wondering what any of this has to do with art-making? Well, that's what the video is for! Nevertheless, I'm happy to say that these experiences and ideas are the beginning of artistic theorizing in the making.Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-15502950928795478522010-09-24T08:49:00.000-07:002010-09-24T08:49:21.673-07:00New works showing at the driveby in Watertown!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzD6HOFdarbhUbPmF04Aj9LsymdqBpcp7fwMl5WYYdwvYfC-i0xZQH5qmY_NPgBQDw3FGsZVMjLZsUX1MR9dcqUwKzO-AwBsVIEmF91_k4BX-7AdjMRDai6SaVwBZDWEEcEmcs8NUNcc_P/s1600/Multiple+Identity_0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzD6HOFdarbhUbPmF04Aj9LsymdqBpcp7fwMl5WYYdwvYfC-i0xZQH5qmY_NPgBQDw3FGsZVMjLZsUX1MR9dcqUwKzO-AwBsVIEmF91_k4BX-7AdjMRDai6SaVwBZDWEEcEmcs8NUNcc_P/s320/Multiple+Identity_0003.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrGTj5Em8Oe2HzjkLtOK_ZNdjdz_we6W_8bOF4Eq5yaXfgp7YPy9WVDHUFg3P9ImoYxeyQ_DBNpm3RrpG7K973c02XTDjyWhkaw_torgtU5KBuOTKhV0vyLXs27JL7M65C0PvfD0WsaRr/s1600/Multiple+Identity_0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrGTj5Em8Oe2HzjkLtOK_ZNdjdz_we6W_8bOF4Eq5yaXfgp7YPy9WVDHUFg3P9ImoYxeyQ_DBNpm3RrpG7K973c02XTDjyWhkaw_torgtU5KBuOTKhV0vyLXs27JL7M65C0PvfD0WsaRr/s320/Multiple+Identity_0002.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So this summer my husband and I made our big move to Tejas from Boston, which I must admit has been the best decision we could have ever made. It's been an amazing experience and it's enabled us to spend more time with our family. I'm now studying in the brand new Ph.D program in Women's Studies at Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas, which has been a whole new journey for me. Coming from a fine art background this coursework has provided new areas of research and context for my future work.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Prior to leaving Boston I had been coordinating with curators Beth Kantrowitz(www.bkartprojects.com) and Kathleen O'Hara(www.ohprojects.com) to participate in a new exhibition entitled, <i>Who am I?</i> which also features the work of<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ben Sloat, Millee Tibbs, and Stephanie Fetter</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">all who</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">explore issues of identity. Kantrawitz and O'Hara have curated this show in their new gallery space in Watertown called <i>Drive-By<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><i>.</i> It was a bumpy road to get this new work produced because there was such a number of huge transitions happening in my life: moving across country, starting a new graduate program(with a mega course load), and transitioning into our new life in Texas. Yet despite of the challenges with transitioning, I'm very happy with this work. It is a continuation of past works that I've produced on brown paper bags, yet I tried some different approaches this time around. </span></span></i></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In my past works, I drew most of my inspiration towards representations of black women within Black publications, however, in this work I focused on the representations of white women in mainstream fashion magazines. This for me seemed to make the work even more relevant for its purpose, which is a question of assimilation. The "brown bag test" to me references a point in history certain groups of black people felt they needed to assimilate to survive or separate themselves from the masses. What I'm questioning in this work is how beauty and fashion media has encouraged black women to assimilate to the mainstreams standards. This work challenges the viewer to see past the visual and determine how assimilation may affect ones connection to identity.</div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-44450189826182129192010-06-07T09:40:00.000-07:002010-06-07T09:46:01.423-07:00Nombre Diversity at Holliston High School! Opening reception tomorrow!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNQpFazvoYFxLK3VnQByJu-C7t9_2Th94bFXKM7jUq_VtwjAuZkRfSvK5E28K9kr4vDUSBcI6Pp-1K5PyBT5ohHLe2DCiGOZ21h-4_-Z2wxIXqDgXlqhnPkH17_aOqlOJHQL0fO74oXnr/s1600/nombreposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNQpFazvoYFxLK3VnQByJu-C7t9_2Th94bFXKM7jUq_VtwjAuZkRfSvK5E28K9kr4vDUSBcI6Pp-1K5PyBT5ohHLe2DCiGOZ21h-4_-Z2wxIXqDgXlqhnPkH17_aOqlOJHQL0fO74oXnr/s400/nombreposter.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>So after nearly three months of working on my project with Holliston High School the work is finally complete and on view. The opening reception will be all day tomorrow, June 7th, 2010.<br />
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There is one thing I've learned from this experience more than ever before... know when to call for assistants! :)<br />
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I seem to always realize this at the last minute somehow, or at the final stretch of a project. I can recall a similar outcome when finishing my final project for my Senior project in undergrad, I never would have finished my project in time had it not been for the help of a good friend(who randomly volunteered to assist btw, and I'm not sure what I would have done without her!) My husband was my supportive assistant while I was finishing the final work for my Master's as well, and boy did I need his help! He needs to take his installation skills on the road!<br />
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So I'm realizing a pattern, that whenever I'm working on projects that have been initiated by my own ideas( meaning no one created the idea nor told me to do it), I need to always prepare and plan for assistants. BECAUSE as my former professor used to say, I always manage to do very ambitious work. Something I never wanted to believe at the time. I thought every artist wanted to create work with the type of vision that I put into my work, and I'm realizing that is not always the case. And I believe that I can learn from other artists who look at their work in more compartmentalized and simplified ways. Though something tells me that the way that I work is very specific to how I love to work, and ultimately I need to learn better ways to get the job done. Perhaps it wouldn't be as bad if I weren't both an artist who works with concept and vision, yet also in process. The process part seems to have a field day with the conceptual part of me because one idea can produce so many extensions of process. Lord help me! But no really, it was a great learning experience in which I believe it was destined to be. I think I can learn from the advise of my former mentor in grad school, Renee Cox, when she suggested I get an assistant to take the pressure off of me to feel that I had to do everything on my own.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivwv60w0PTQNK0Hm2i4xunN6sn8yIPjvBypgAsf4wfuVM9Ty93nHbALtwMQY48roNpbz-vCgbFaMH6V3gOCc-7gCPzfAOUSvW9_AuUlI7UH_VvNaTkYogC7bRotFDY1dtRUANr62bkQ_iG/s1600/IMG_6072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivwv60w0PTQNK0Hm2i4xunN6sn8yIPjvBypgAsf4wfuVM9Ty93nHbALtwMQY48roNpbz-vCgbFaMH6V3gOCc-7gCPzfAOUSvW9_AuUlI7UH_VvNaTkYogC7bRotFDY1dtRUANr62bkQ_iG/s320/IMG_6072.jpg" /></a></div>The great thing about Studio 370 is that it truly is an experimental space, and honestly I wouldn't have been able to come up with the work that I did, in the freedom that I did, if it wasn't such a supportive space. I really feel so grateful for that, it's not often that you receive that opportunity right out of grad school so I feel very liberated.<br />
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I think the biggest challenge for me, which always is, managing a hectic schedule. So the project which initially was scheduled to begin as a process-based project that would end with a final exhibition, ended up being entirely process for a very long time! I'm so thankful to art teachers Doug Lack and Lisa Bynoe for their understanding, as they were really supportive throughout the entire process, and in the end were gracious enough to let me come back a month later to set up the show for view. It's been such a valuable experience that I'll never forget. What would you do without gracious people? Absolutely nothing, and that's why we need more of them!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4oJJXHGiHJhrhMhyphenhyphenHdjUAOgv9HtbloH4ULzbHB2i5SgOiYqtq7GfuFO1b1E3k-RO5u74uw01AUlfu0xg_eR3SksCb6Kc4hZ0mR_FnbEzVVIZC9M7Xbq2-h_mdBngQyIcyDiTaiw5zWOEr/s1600/IMG_6090.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4oJJXHGiHJhrhMhyphenhyphenHdjUAOgv9HtbloH4ULzbHB2i5SgOiYqtq7GfuFO1b1E3k-RO5u74uw01AUlfu0xg_eR3SksCb6Kc4hZ0mR_FnbEzVVIZC9M7Xbq2-h_mdBngQyIcyDiTaiw5zWOEr/s320/IMG_6090.jpg" /></a></div><br />
So about the work, I feel very happy with what I was able to come up with, which is always a give and take. Some of the works were pieces I envisioned from the very beginning while others evolved overtime. Some pieces are a mix of both. The show officially started last friday, and I've already received some positive feedback so far. Many of the students really liked the use of technology, mixed media, and photography as they are used to more mediums like painting and sculpture. It really gave them a new angle on contemporary art, which I'm glad they were able to appreciate. I think their personal attachment was also that many of their images were included in the project, which was very impactful to them. When I was taking the photographs and explaining the project to them, they were all anxious to see how their participation in the project would be shown. Some students who didn't get a chance to get their pictures taken, where like "Wait, how come I didn't get to get my picture taken?" I think when you can make art that prompts that type of response you know that part of your goal was accomplished, because you know that the people that participated feel great that they were apart of it and others wish they could be.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QB9w6h9GFYt_XiePZYFMlNo5xtbhYkTO_VV209Kiff1s8fjgCTj1AYAm5wFR6qyKlwrDC0HkjvEkdwe-z0_RCg6T4TQd-i3hO6t2JYPq8Wrv9CKuWcuvE1VEfzsMIbKteJ_PdHEgJ1UA/s1600/IMG_5982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QB9w6h9GFYt_XiePZYFMlNo5xtbhYkTO_VV209Kiff1s8fjgCTj1AYAm5wFR6qyKlwrDC0HkjvEkdwe-z0_RCg6T4TQd-i3hO6t2JYPq8Wrv9CKuWcuvE1VEfzsMIbKteJ_PdHEgJ1UA/s320/IMG_5982.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The main piece that I envisioned when I initially proposed the project was <i>100 students</i>, which is a grid of 5x7 photographs of 100 students from Holliston High School. This piece references so many things for me, but ultimately it's in part a "glimpse" of the student body. As if I had taken a random sampling of students to study as research. But I was particularly interested to see how diverse this sample of students would be. Rather than purposely select an evenly diverse selection of students I photographed students that randomly decided to participate from the art department classes and a few other classes. This image for me doesn't show the experience that I had photographing each student, which was priceless. Though ethnically or culturally it may look as if this group of 100 students are the same, that is wholely inaccurate. In my observation of them, and my discussion with them they all have different interests and points of view. So I found this initial part of the project to be one of the most rewarding in a number of ways, one because I was using photography which is one of my favorite mediums and two because of how comfortable the students where to share their goals and ambitions.<br />
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To my amazement, I also experienced first hand how critical young women can be of their own images. Many of them cringed at the sight of themselves, which was mystifying. I was able to see how much the media's impact of beauty affects young women at that age. Also, the notion of images of oneself is so much different with social networkng sites like "Facebook," young people are used to customizing an image that they want their peers to see. While in the case of this project, I edited and selected the images, so it was a interesting comparison. I guess another take would have been to allow the students select their own images, and it would have shown a picture of how they'd "like" to be seen. This is a notion that I learned about "portraiture" in a photo theory course I took in college that was based on the portrait, and the difference between what the subject wants to see in themselves and the virtue the photographer sees.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCtzbeYbTJmTRC6AvgGfUP02nhb9WbEkrqdHfAp8p8qX9M7KQ0ZFG9sn7qDUbFEMYceLja5ZiXDE-qhDehYGw-xFw4TYDLGubRSneYx3TfnGTIc3AYP_uKE0i5hTUut8bsFdQzImg5kiH/s1600/IMG_6074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCtzbeYbTJmTRC6AvgGfUP02nhb9WbEkrqdHfAp8p8qX9M7KQ0ZFG9sn7qDUbFEMYceLja5ZiXDE-qhDehYGw-xFw4TYDLGubRSneYx3TfnGTIc3AYP_uKE0i5hTUut8bsFdQzImg5kiH/s320/IMG_6074.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I think the most provocative experience in the project happened, while working on a piece that I entitled, <i>See, Hear the Sound of Holliston,</i> I interviewed and recorded 10 students through audio as they detailed their thoughts and beliefs about diversity. I edited and constructed 5 sound pieces from these interviews. In each piece the students tell of their ideologies about diversity within the school. It was so revealing because I met with them individually and they were really able to share their perspectives freely. Their reflections were so pure and a bold, and some even admitted that some of their views may have been a little biased based on their experiences. The most common thread in their discussion was that the diversity within Holliston High School has more to do with the town of Holliston, and it's level or lack of diversity. No student had the same perspective, but they all agreed in different ways that they'd like to see more diversity, yet that there was something very unique about their experience. Some of the students could see that diversity goes beyond racial diversity, and felt that their individual identities were a reflection of diversity. It was both a learning experience for me to hear their experiences, and it was also an opportunity for them to think about a subject that perhaps they have never had the opportunity to speak about constructively.<br />
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I then paired the sound works with a series of 16 photographs that I took during my time at Holliston High, which capture the essence of the educational space: the hallways, classrooms, courtyards, gym, and much more. It was a way to examine how the space of the school parallels or intersects with the actual experiences that this group of students report. Together I feel that the contrasting mediums really give a sense of what diversity means for many students at the school.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGVF39PcgHP3PCaXj7S1dcLG7Gr93tzDs0ahtDfGrG5RuTrObzBjObFTRiBnaFgmQq3A9NaiOiQCt5C_YJJbQUHlLBwT2GkvTw_tZY_0LVF7U-ytyfl6GIP7REOa-MXN6NvUhAVT3MiXmT/s1600/heads+together.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGVF39PcgHP3PCaXj7S1dcLG7Gr93tzDs0ahtDfGrG5RuTrObzBjObFTRiBnaFgmQq3A9NaiOiQCt5C_YJJbQUHlLBwT2GkvTw_tZY_0LVF7U-ytyfl6GIP7REOa-MXN6NvUhAVT3MiXmT/s320/heads+together.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Then, I constructed a video installation in which I collaborated with a couple of female students, to create a video about diversity. I showed them a brief slideshow of images that are typically used to promote diversity. I'm sure you've seen them. The ones that show a photograph representing in part or fully a group of ethnically, racially diversed peoples to describe the diversity of the school. At first response, many of the students thought, "hmmm.... Why did you come to Holliston? It's not really diverse." Yet, I explained that though they may not represent a wide variety of races that they had the ability to portray how they as a diverse set of individuals come together. They were partially convinced but insisted that they get more "diverse students" so it didn't look like so much of the same. I didn't agrue with them, because I could understand their point. If someone comes in doing a project on diversity, it has become a huge part of our culture to figure out how we can "look" more culturally diverse visually. And since this visual aspect representing diversity was what the video was about, I totally understood their need to be represented through variety. Working with these young ladies was really one of the best, I collaborated with them to come up with gestures that represented diversity. Yet there was a point while working with them, when I was able to see how much young students need time to rest and reflect. One of the gestures required them all to lay with their heads together and eyes closed. It was the cutest thing when they asked me " Can we stay here for a minute?" I kindly said "sure" and thought how nice that this exercise could provide both an educational and peaceful activity for them.<br />
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One of the next pieces that I completed was <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><i>This is a desk, this room is my classroom of culture, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">where I made a chalkboard surface on the wall with text, a desk, and an image of desk to reference the need for a space to educate students about culture. It takes from using references from the "classroom" as a place where students learn, to generate ideas about how we learn. I'm always amazed at how much we don't know about culture and different cultures. In this piece, I felt there needed to be a way to create more opportunities for discussion and understanding our differences and what they come from. I feel that the only way that we can be culturally sound is to insure that our students have the best information. Without the proper education students are left to assume and judge based on a lack of information. One of the greatest points made during the interviews was how a diverse educational environement initiates that cultural study, and helps to create this space that is often far more than what is discussed in the classroom. We often underestimate how this helps young students. Yet in addition to creating an diverse educational environment, the curriculm should highlight and further investigate this study so that all students can become more knowledgeable about themselves and others.</span></i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">When I began this project I felt that it was really thought provoking to accomplish, and much of the work was influenced by the wall piece that I worked on, <i>Words that describe. Words that describe </i>which lists a number of terms that describe diversity and is written in chalk. The use of chalk references the classroom and education(though many schools are using eraser boards now), I felt that it also represented something related to younger people( like crafts and expressions using chalk on the wall or the ground.) I initially set out to use paint over it, but liked the connection of chalk to ideas of school, which as I mentioned earlier inspired the chalkboard piece. I knew that I wanted to do a piece that was somewhat inspired by Marcel Duchamp and his "Chair" piece, but using a school desk instead. So by using the chalkboard it added a new layer to my original idea.</span><br />
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Finally, I wanted to create a process-piece that reflected the students' response to the project and their own thoughts on diversity. So I brought in a bulletin board that I use in my studio to act as a replacement for the usual "journal" that I would place in exhibition space to get feedback. I envisioned using color strips of paper where students could write their thoughts and post to the bulletin board. I was very fortunate that Ms. Bynoe had a wonderful collection of craft papers in amazing colors. So I crafted the color selection to felt reflect the boldness that this piece should represent visually. The differences in color also create a "choice" for students, that they can select the colors(paper and markers) that they indentify with and post them to the board. To me it creates another way for the students to express their individuality, which was very huge to me. I wanted to think past "diversity" in a way that only address racial difference and know that their upbringing, experiences, talents and skills create a diverse environment as well. In the end learning to appreciate that which is unique about them that no one else has. When I think of how many young people have issues with their self-image, I know that it's the ability to look at themselves and celebrate who their are that's most important. I can't count the times that students who came in and hated to see themselves on the wall, yet could appreciate the images of others. I can recall that there was a time when I felt the same way at their age, I'm not sure at what point things changed, but I hope that this work would help them to challenge and identify where the negative thoughts may be coming from, so that a change can be made.<br />
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So if your near the Holliston area( or would like to travel there) in the next few weeks please feel free to stop by the space. I'm really happy to have the opportunity to create a space that is both educational and visually stimulating.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1a4GWb5OyncTKT_2FZ5OijC8G1DGppvWGjk6W3AtxIwGoaid92aT2tGnP_xfDzKQo3souX_zt_DoQ4c1p-7S2yUlkyfeSQbfWEGEXrSIrw7IJ3HmTvYLd6tZZYfvwNLW-0N9kalzvTpv/s1600/IMG_6104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1a4GWb5OyncTKT_2FZ5OijC8G1DGppvWGjk6W3AtxIwGoaid92aT2tGnP_xfDzKQo3souX_zt_DoQ4c1p-7S2yUlkyfeSQbfWEGEXrSIrw7IJ3HmTvYLd6tZZYfvwNLW-0N9kalzvTpv/s320/IMG_6104.jpg" /></a></div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-90120539961706305252010-03-09T22:28:00.000-08:002010-03-09T22:28:06.147-08:00New Projects!So now that I've completed the MFA program, it's time to crank out some new work. And what better way to do that but in a creative space that encourages experimentation and exploration? Today marks the beginning of my residency as Visiting Artist at Holliston High School(Holliston,MA).<br />
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My proposed project is one based on diversity, so no direct work about colorism this time. Yah!<br />
I'm quite excited about it because I think there is great potential to develop a whole new body of work that's independent from my graduate school experience.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6oY81CLhOFWBO7-NTVbqbKEkZhgB8ViT_W3C5nE8y4UmlbEzKbJ4ZEvZ7jsZuysGeNHlcJiaUxbZP5ILAKAv5X1PCCd9twr2nUKaFO_6sp1_55xExYlYDCMbZwKM2WlqW0GFd6HcfTUPY/s1600-h/DVDcoverweb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6oY81CLhOFWBO7-NTVbqbKEkZhgB8ViT_W3C5nE8y4UmlbEzKbJ4ZEvZ7jsZuysGeNHlcJiaUxbZP5ILAKAv5X1PCCd9twr2nUKaFO_6sp1_55xExYlYDCMbZwKM2WlqW0GFd6HcfTUPY/s200/DVDcoverweb.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>I'm also excited to be working on a slightly different topic than colorism, I feel like I'm a little colorism-ed out! I think because in addition to my studio practice that engaged this subject for the MFA program, my documentary, The Skin Quilt Project is also surrounding the subject, though the relief is that the quilters make the storyline A lot more interesting.<br />
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Yet, I'm excited to note that the film is complete and is beginning it's theatrical distribution with community screenings and loads of other fun opportunities. And I hope that more develops from there. So besides continuing to promote the film until the exclusive DVD release, I'm excited at the opportunity to think at some new topics and ways of working.<br />
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So I have a lot ahead of me, and I'm going to be photographing a lot more for this project, I feel that will be somewhat like a research study on diversity. A subject I'm really interested in learning more about, and how different needs of diversity changes depending on location and community.<br />
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Tomorrow I will actually begin the work, whereas today I've been mapping out the planning with the Art department at Holliston. It's going to be a fun journey, and there even be a small reception once all the work is complete. I look forward to sharing pics of the process.Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-48068213817015448152010-01-21T05:53:00.000-08:002010-01-21T06:03:15.598-08:00The new and improved: I'm a Master of Fine Arts!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQ5t3rRFdaSpkGDD3pwZKhYMShA3Emonp7MUlbRFGD20Z4RwOzOEMeJ1Tai2VB8vD6vmCO2I2yyIZbBCJGPY8YRG9FCkSP1XvHlgfpJ3pAtmnCis_1AoUfW2E0sAGhlHcTNoElkZ-fibH/s1600-h/19477_703456286176_37508696_39477454_5078687_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQ5t3rRFdaSpkGDD3pwZKhYMShA3Emonp7MUlbRFGD20Z4RwOzOEMeJ1Tai2VB8vD6vmCO2I2yyIZbBCJGPY8YRG9FCkSP1XvHlgfpJ3pAtmnCis_1AoUfW2E0sAGhlHcTNoElkZ-fibH/s320/19477_703456286176_37508696_39477454_5078687_n.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last week was my 5th MFA Residency at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, and I have to say I went through a range of emotions. Pure fear, which is so unlike me, to complete awe. An explanation of that can be obtained by describing the major events that occurred during the 10 day residency.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the very first day I was scheduled to give an artist talk, which was loosely based on my MFA Thesis, and explained the work that I was making and the artists who influenced this. I rehearsed my talk over and over like a speech and I was so nervous! Though everyone said they couldn't tell. I could lol. But, I did feel very confident in what I was doing as an artist, and though originally I was nervous about potential questions after I finished my talk it turned out that I was ready. It helped that all of the people who asked questions were very thought provoking and pertaining to my work. For example: <i>Have you considered including the references to Egyptian and Ethopian art in your work? Do you see the influence of popular culture having an influence on advertising geared towards African-Americans?</i> and my favorite <i>Do I see the isolation of African-American artists playing a part in my work?</i> All very good questions about issues that I feel very passionate about. As my classmates stated during our Final Graduate seminar, I got "fired up." I agree.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then, a couple of days later I was defending my thesis and work, again another scary moment but it was a success. I passed, Thank God! The readers did give me some suggestions to think about in terms of the work that I presented. <br />
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</div>You may be familiar with some of this work, the brown paper bag installation <i>Essence/February 2009,</i> and I showed this piece along with my magazine pieces. Similiar to how I did in the Intersexions show at Stonehill College. This time, however, I also included an excerpt of my documentary, The Skin Quilt Project, on view as well. Overall, I received great response from my display and I was really happy with the results. Big Thanks to my husband Solomon for his amazing installation services. He did an amazing job!<br />
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I think what I enjoyed most, was the opportunity to critique with other students in the program as a graduating student. I just felt that I had so much more to share than I realized. I came away from each critique feeling that I had provide them with some great advice on how to move forward, specifically in terms of making work that you can defend.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then lastly it was the exhibition reception to look forward to and I was estatic that my mother coming in town because it's always fun when she's here so that was a great plus. Like many of my classmates we felt that the moment felt somewhat anti-climatic but I think my greatest moment was the Grad Toast. It was a great time and it really helped to celebrate the achievement of getting my MFA. I have to say that I'm so glad this season has come to a close, but honestly it was fun while it lasted!<br />
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</div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-60173972941855504732010-01-21T05:28:00.000-08:002010-01-21T05:28:57.078-08:00Lauren Cross' Art Blog was selected as one of the 100 great blogs for art students and enthusiats!Hello All,<br />
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I'm excited to report that my blog was selected by onlinecollege.org as one of the "100 Great Blogs for Art Students and Enthusiats!" Check it out!<br />
<a href="http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/01/20/100-great-blogs-for-art-students-enthusiasts/">http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/01/20/100-great-blogs-for-art-students-enthusiasts/</a><br />
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This is great news! Thanks to everyone who has been tuning in!<br />
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Best,<br />
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LaurenLauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-8080115409017955152009-12-17T05:53:00.000-08:002009-12-17T05:55:24.340-08:00The Intersexions show de-installed :(<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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I know this is alittle after the fact, but I just wanted to show some pics of the <i>Intersexions</i> show I was recently apart of at Stonehill College. The show just de-installed this past weekend, but it was such a great show. There was an amazing turn out, and I was so thrilled to be in the presence of such great artists. They also did a great job on the catalog, which was very professional.<br />
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I was also encouraged that my work had such a great response in the show, and I was moved by the number of viewers that could identify with the works. Perhaps not from the context of the work but the work itself spoke to them in some way.<br />
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There was an amazing artist panel on November 20th, where I joined with four other artists in the show( Steve Locke, Caleb Cole, James Montford, and Michele L'Heureux) to talk about our work.<br />
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The panel was very energized, and brought forth so many strong questions. There were times where I could literally feel the tension in the room. I think race and identity is unmistakably one of the most difficult things to talk about in such a large setting, because so many people have such different views and feelings about it. Obviously, from one's perspective that has a history of pain due to racism the feelings are much more emotional. I thought it was powerful to get the three perspectives of race from myself, Steve Locke, and James Montford, as we all had different individual experiences that crossed generationally but also gender and geographical origins. I was also taken by Caleb and Michele's talk as well, because the way that they discussed their work truly opens a door into the process and what the artist feels the viewer will see into the work. It was an amazing opportunity to meet all of them, some I've only known about but never met in- person.<br />
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The overall response from the exhibit was phenomenal. It was curated by the Exhibitions and Colletions class at Stonehill College, and I have to admit that they did an exceptional job with putting together the show as did Candice Smith Corby(Gallery Director and Arts Coordinator for Stonehill) and Carole Calo, who were the instructors for the class. The show was very smart and a quite unusual topic for a student-curated show but I was glad that they chose to be somewhat controversial when most tend to stay safe. There were several notable members of the Boston arts community who saw the show and felt strongly that the show should be a traveling exhibition. I personally would love to have the opportunity to show with these artists again, as their work in relation to my own opens up so many questions about the context of race, identity, and gender in our society.Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-50917433268716448642009-10-18T16:55:00.000-07:002009-10-18T16:55:16.243-07:00Skin Quilt Project Teaser!!Hey everyone,<div><br />
</div><div>Good things happening all over, thesis writing and mega work! Check out the link below for the teaser for The Skin Quilt Project!<br />
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</div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcwRmx0eyW0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcwRmx0eyW0</a><br />
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</div></div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-44487101878755484832009-09-26T21:01:00.000-07:002009-09-26T21:01:14.056-07:00New Mentor, New IdeasA couple of weeks ago I spoke with my mentor Renee Cox about where I could see my work going, as well as what I wanted to communicate through my work. It was a great meeting because she suggested some great alternatives for me that I was already considering. Printing on fabric. A previous mentor, Ceci Mendez had suggested a similar thing almost a year ago and it's definitely been in my mind to do. I think I've procrastinated the idea for a number of reasons: 1) I was afraid it would be costly 2) I didn't want to waste money and it went all wrong. But I think one thing I 'm learning is its good to explore things new avenues in your work because you never know where it will lead you. Another reflection I thought of from my meeting with Renee was scale. I think it's something I've been wanting to play with for a long time. I personally love work that has scale to it so why haven't I been blowing up my work? Well, I definitely didn't want to be blowing up work for no reason at all, but I really can understand and comprehend the reasons why. Scale helps the work to somehow speak louder in a way that small intimate images just don't. I've always felt that way looking at art, know it's my time to pick up the pace.<br />
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Another discovery. Display. Not that this is a foreign thing for me as well, but I find that the better the presentation the better the art. As I've begun the process of working on the brown paper bags, the hardest thing for me to conceive was presentation. I was explaining to Renee my personal connection to the African American quilting tradition and all of sudden it seemed like a major light bulb came on. Why not either quilt the bags?(Only if they were dramatic enough in scale) or take images of the drawings on the bags, print them on fabric, and quilt them? Sounds like a good idea to me! The irony is that since I started <a href="http://www.skinquiltproject.com/">The Skin Quilt Project</a> I've been doing more stitching and sewing of fabrics. We'll see how that goes but it's definitely a way to re-look at the issues I've been working in, and tie it all together. Stay tuned for more fun in this process!Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-46005007769345057652009-09-03T08:55:00.001-07:002009-09-26T20:36:43.596-07:00September 25th at South Shore Art Center!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Hey all, I'm excited to report that on September 25th, 6-8 p.m. I will be attending the opening reception at the <a href="http://www.ssac.org/">South Shore Art Center</a> for their <b><i>Color Matters </i><span style="font-weight: normal;">show( September 18–November 1) that was juried by Associate Curator of the ICA Boston, Jen Mergel. </span></b><br />
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</div><div><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Yours truly was one of the artists selected to present a piece( <i>Shades of me, </i>left) in the show, which was a tremendous honor. This will be one of the first juried exhibitions I've been a part of so I feel like this is the start of something new. It's hard to get plugged into the Boston scene so I feel very blessed and know it's only the grace of God! </span></b><br />
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</div><div>On another note, <a href="http://www.skinquiltproject.com/">The Skin Quilt Project</a> is going great! I had my first trip to Houston a few weekends ago and it was a remarkable experience. It's truly a blessing to be able to meet and talk to so many people to hear their own experiences and see how we're really all connected. I've been editing and capturing footage ever since I got home and it's been amazing to look back after the interviews and see what was said. When you're filming your only able to really hear some things because you're also focusing on the vision of everything. I've also been able to recruit some outstanding scholars and quilters for the project as well so I feel very humbled to be able to speak with them all. Keep a look out on <i>The Skin Quilt Project</i> site as I'll be posting some footage their as well as commentary about the participants etc.<br />
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</div><div>In other things, I'm looking doing a bit of quilting myself or at least looking at the quilting technique as a theme for my MFA thesis. I'll show the progress!!!<br />
</div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-68293181712949535062009-08-10T09:56:00.000-07:002009-09-26T20:38:16.525-07:00Researching Black Super Models<a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2352/1803385991_76a8093bc6.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2352/1803385991_76a8093bc6.jpg" style="float: left; height: 500px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 364px;" width="145" /></a><br />
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</div><div>I read in the <i>Times</i> yesterday and found that Naomi Sims, a black supermodel,(Not to be confused with Naomi Campbell!) notably recognized for breaking the chains off of the American modeling circuit recently died from cancer. I think there is something very profound about her story, as before her most of the black models were lighter-skinned. One very disturbing part of her journey as a model is that she was rejected often early in her career because she was "darker-skinned" and that her "look" would be rejected by readers. I find this interesting, because it seems the ideas of beauty for black women have been originated by the European idea of beauty. I started to research the stories of major black super models such as Naomi Campbell, who graced the cover of the Vogue Paris due to an advertiser refusing to advertise if she wasn't chosen. <br />
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</div><div>Now looking at some of the newer generation of models it is interesting to see that how certain shades of black women become prominent at different points in our history. To my knowledge Naomi Sims came on during the "Black is beautiful" movement, and now looking at some of the current models such as Chanel Iman and Selita Ebanks are fairly lighter. There is a very caramel look happening now that seems to act as a happy medium between light and dark. Again, fashion and trends are changing all the time, where old ideas are recycled and reused in different ways.It seems that ideas on black beauty are too.<br />
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</div></div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-45555071596917725462009-08-10T08:48:00.000-07:002009-09-26T20:44:23.003-07:00New Projects, New Projects, New Projects!!!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ppNxh5bUO4pcdCc9XlOzmA8DGv3ZM-KErRXGjPezqd2iN4gIe5HLnwZ2NlKmaXG7Tj6sXUoW-bnLZAurCGpyMuDdoNf0LC63xgFH7VUZ_EauTGuRhrlc3CvdztfIiqLATXpPseI6abwd/s1600-h/avatar_c4425e082789_64.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368362800396770210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ppNxh5bUO4pcdCc9XlOzmA8DGv3ZM-KErRXGjPezqd2iN4gIe5HLnwZ2NlKmaXG7Tj6sXUoW-bnLZAurCGpyMuDdoNf0LC63xgFH7VUZ_EauTGuRhrlc3CvdztfIiqLATXpPseI6abwd/s400/avatar_c4425e082789_64.png" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 64px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 64px;" /></a><br />
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</div>So this is going to be a mega busy semester with many things to see and do. First, I would like to introduce everyone to a new online site that I've launched called, CVAAD Projects (<a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.cvaad.com">www.cvaad.com</a>) that features contemporary visual art and artists of the African Diaspora. I would blame AIB for pushing so much research in the program, that it actually made me like it! But it's something I'm really passionate about as I really would like to see a greater presence of black artists in galleries, magazines, anthologies etc. The word really needs to get out there. So CVAAD Projects will act as a catalyst and producer for that type of movement. Also, I've finally given in to the "film bug," those of you who know me know that I've done short films in the past, but many of you may perhaps be unfamiliar. After all of the abuse I've experienced at AIB,lol, I was encouraged to have more video and a more tangible look at the issue of colorism. It's taken me awhile to get this all together but I've launched a documentary project that I'm working on, called <i>The Skin Quilt Project. </i>This documentary is largely about the presence of colorism within the African American community, but also the paradox of the things we do to connect to our cultural heritage. It's going to be a challenge to tie these two concepts together, but I'm really passionate about it. Obviously quilting in the African American community has a dialogue of it's own, but one of the things I was facinated about was it's relevance in African American art. So I'm using quilting as a way to enter into this discussion about colorism. They are two opposite outlooks on African American culture, quilting being the pride and joy, and colorism being the shame and guilt. But I'm interested in meeting with quilters of African descent to discuss the complexity of these two emotions: 1) the joy of quilting as a sense of cultural pride 2) the disappointment of ones cultural view on skin complexion. How can pride and insecurity exist in the same framework? This is what <i>The Skin Quilt Project</i> aims to explore. This will be a controversial move, but I feel it's necessary to really get the point across. I'm so excited that I've already begun to recruit interviewees for the project. Check out the website/blog for the project at: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.skinquiltproject.com">www.skinquiltproject.com</a>.Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-15416011083998433322009-07-20T08:32:00.000-07:002009-07-20T08:34:11.167-07:00Review in Allston Brighton Tab!!So here is the review in the <a href="http://www.wickedlocal.com/allston/news/x931236412/Junko-Revival-shows-trash-can-be-turned-into-beautiful-art">Allston Brighton Tab</a> that I mentioned in my previous post. I do feel that she slightly misquoted me, or at least ducked off alot of the context that I said in our interview but ultimately, press is press right?Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-76446194597581694062009-07-13T11:08:00.001-07:002009-07-13T12:01:12.455-07:00Essence/February 2009 in Junko Revival show<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkPShC2lmQzVMeG2rXrH-_jKl236YDMejxOG_RjnfbcI59ZnlXqaa5QvGrDQrbRKokkVb4uOO5LcesyBxt00Nc4L6cIP9BBqBKKftcKEZLKc5i2Tu3lwIMNOaDdd40X_-ZfW1UByA3h19o/s1600-h/Essence.Feb2009_Chocolatta-.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 318px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkPShC2lmQzVMeG2rXrH-_jKl236YDMejxOG_RjnfbcI59ZnlXqaa5QvGrDQrbRKokkVb4uOO5LcesyBxt00Nc4L6cIP9BBqBKKftcKEZLKc5i2Tu3lwIMNOaDdd40X_-ZfW1UByA3h19o/s400/Essence.Feb2009_Chocolatta-.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358009117412314994" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWs5_9RTx2lDTPOzGdq8ID_jfKo9eFuI56kNSpy7pIDXbLg7BHvW59aO5Sa_xSB64ncZbEPoGHLoUZcZlbOc6eQSFmeyIAlBYKNhQ7hRADA8gTFB1ueL1ap5XjsslEnZsg5KI8k3I-FnWN/s1600-h/Essence.Feb2009_Dark-Chocol.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 313px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWs5_9RTx2lDTPOzGdq8ID_jfKo9eFuI56kNSpy7pIDXbLg7BHvW59aO5Sa_xSB64ncZbEPoGHLoUZcZlbOc6eQSFmeyIAlBYKNhQ7hRADA8gTFB1ueL1ap5XjsslEnZsg5KI8k3I-FnWN/s400/Essence.Feb2009_Dark-Chocol.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358008817826731138" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6eg9XKH6OAXzOLXax_9g6iz6NQx28JC8r2rwUDQc_TZE3hbzEilLOERUmD6jP63IDF9oII5ieLgsOMx0xKijN9NhUMx5aaf1OcvfxYR9CtcVLwsuBGnYg9m2vRg53FX_HEz62N3BgMUt/s1600-h/Essence.Feb2009_Little-Hers.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 315px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6eg9XKH6OAXzOLXax_9g6iz6NQx28JC8r2rwUDQc_TZE3hbzEilLOERUmD6jP63IDF9oII5ieLgsOMx0xKijN9NhUMx5aaf1OcvfxYR9CtcVLwsuBGnYg9m2vRg53FX_HEz62N3BgMUt/s400/Essence.Feb2009_Little-Hers.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358008807596026978" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyjZRCXIUVaXcT4yGecRt-g5B7MxeBPvsNFoko6FTZdaNVgs-3KEkiPV554clOZV00IyyoHyMr4QFpxFUFED7MWuVh01m-oFiVsxngILxRV1klK-WN7unGBVKSNop9Q9jXW10DzhfHLGw/s1600-h/Essence.Feb2009_Medium-Lite.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 316px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyjZRCXIUVaXcT4yGecRt-g5B7MxeBPvsNFoko6FTZdaNVgs-3KEkiPV554clOZV00IyyoHyMr4QFpxFUFED7MWuVh01m-oFiVsxngILxRV1klK-WN7unGBVKSNop9Q9jXW10DzhfHLGw/s400/Essence.Feb2009_Medium-Lite.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358008803813294450" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0h_QYghE6ORyRG4IIJ6Gay-vQKd37yGiKqwiBn_7iwcd1W1tGQwlNqhJQ3GIixZenTw755c48ai457g3-dnt3PgyPuBL-MBB07NG_CEGKlBXw6MRVh_oHdSlMGbetWiDVdvXmiohRcs12/s1600-h/Essence.Feb-2009_Vanilla-Sk.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 317px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0h_QYghE6ORyRG4IIJ6Gay-vQKd37yGiKqwiBn_7iwcd1W1tGQwlNqhJQ3GIixZenTw755c48ai457g3-dnt3PgyPuBL-MBB07NG_CEGKlBXw6MRVh_oHdSlMGbetWiDVdvXmiohRcs12/s400/Essence.Feb-2009_Vanilla-Sk.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358008801599772594" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM34ff_2mdx6FOP1-HTfLptNc-Rttb2X_5wEOaHF07cqqly4LvazIanafDwggm5prb6Pa8vLJggDnvVy2cotISMz3L5jAzi86r6Sd_43Eencr35NWWEgsNt4mdlZBlayXrLuq_IEexUPnZ/s1600-h/Essence.Feb-2009_Red-Girl.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 315px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM34ff_2mdx6FOP1-HTfLptNc-Rttb2X_5wEOaHF07cqqly4LvazIanafDwggm5prb6Pa8vLJggDnvVy2cotISMz3L5jAzi86r6Sd_43Eencr35NWWEgsNt4mdlZBlayXrLuq_IEexUPnZ/s400/Essence.Feb-2009_Red-Girl.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358008795357343842" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>This Sunday was the opening for the Junko Revival show(July 12–August 9, 2009) at Rescue (325 Brighton Avenue, Allston, MA) a hip store featuring new and used modern style apparel for men and women. The event was organized by Glovebox<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">(</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; color: rgb(0, 128, 0); "><a href="www.gloveboxboston.com"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">www.</span></a><b><a href="www.gloveboxboston.com"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">gloveboxboston</span></a></b><a href="www.gloveboxboston.com"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">.com)</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">,a non profit organization that features the work of emerging and undiscovered artist in the Boston area.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, fantasy; font-size: 16px; ">It was a great experience, and I was lucky enough to even be interviewed by the <i>Allston/Brighton Tab</i>. I'll be on the look out to see if anything goes to press. I would say that this was also my first time exhibiting in Boston, and it was also great to show completely new work. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, -webkit-fantasy;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; color: rgb(0, 128, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, fantasy; font-size: 16px; ">I showed three pieces from a new series(<i>Essence/February 2009</i>) that I started recently inspired by <i>Essence</i> magazine, one of the most popular publications for black women. I grew up reading <i>Essence</i> and it has often been the single place( Besides Ebony and Jet) where black women could see their "own" all throughout their pages, whether it in articles or the beauty and fashion pages. The mixed media drawings from this series <i>Essence/ February 2009 </i>were inspired by representations of black women in the beauty and fashion spreads. For years there has been an ongoing argument about the limited representations of dark-skinned beauties on these pages of their magazine, and the dominance of a women of lighter-skin has prescribed a skepticism about "black beauty."</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>As I've been working on the brown paper bags for a while I felt the combination of these two influences: 1. the representation of black beauty in black magazines and 2. the concept of the brown paper bag test to be connected. It all seems to comment on the ways in which the black community has found ways to tear each other down in the process of building others up. It has destroyed the way we think and see each other. </div><div><br /></div><div>I think I'm most interested in deconstructing the concept of having a "black alternative" of European beauty because this way of thinking has had such a subtle affect on people that it's almost unrecognizable. Yet at the same time I think it's affect on people is so detrimental in the long run. In my impression no issue should be pushed under the rug as any issue has the potential to be completely destructive. We should love each other that much.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the other hand, we are making obvious steps towards progress in light of our new President and First lady. Its amazing how healing it is to see Michelle Obama featured on the cover of magazines and so trailed by the media, its definitely a step in the right direction, which in my view is the right way to go.</div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-38412591099041236452009-06-18T13:29:00.000-07:002009-06-18T14:00:14.712-07:00Residency Tomorrow!!Aaaah!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2fZxH6veRMWk4jAdedcw1yFvg1nuI7Qy5nytg_7Aq_jnA7d0ZZuFlQxT_SRSc6xHPks1ONzE4X1EhmIF96B-8l9n5-CNTCneMKd-HhJ7boiNu65jFWPHqnIht0EFzhV1ezUncyKKhktk/s1600-h/JeanBaptiste-Carpeaux.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2fZxH6veRMWk4jAdedcw1yFvg1nuI7Qy5nytg_7Aq_jnA7d0ZZuFlQxT_SRSc6xHPks1ONzE4X1EhmIF96B-8l9n5-CNTCneMKd-HhJ7boiNu65jFWPHqnIht0EFzhV1ezUncyKKhktk/s400/JeanBaptiste-Carpeaux.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348768188806156530" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHnHJDWPr9tYwAZfUms_GhYXlPQb2ed4D3nlbE_lItgU_9nwl-gfX1QXgw-yF7Uj19anNajYOON6lUmPI-8JbN_G4JbHbADbwWI47HSD766a5W8jpMOoF5tgSHUbv0SkETRxMeq_cK3GjB/s1600-h/WaillysHottentot-Venus.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHnHJDWPr9tYwAZfUms_GhYXlPQb2ed4D3nlbE_lItgU_9nwl-gfX1QXgw-yF7Uj19anNajYOON6lUmPI-8JbN_G4JbHbADbwWI47HSD766a5W8jpMOoF5tgSHUbv0SkETRxMeq_cK3GjB/s400/WaillysHottentot-Venus.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348767989989996242" /></a>The AIB residency is tomorrow and I'm both happy and nervous about it. These are the images I'll be bringing, however, I might also be bringing some other projects I've worked on as well. All of these images reflect all the research that I've been doing on the representation of the black image in Western art. I'm actually finally somewhat pleased with the result, and feel like I have work that is coinciding with what I'll be writing for my thesis. I know there is alot of work to do to prepare but I'm excited. As usual it will be great to see all of my classmates and faculty. It feels somewhat bittersweet that this is actually the last official residency for grad school, where I will be critiqued. The final residency being the one where I defend my thesis and prepare work for the graduate exhibition.<div>I think what I'd really like to gain from this residency is feedback that will be helpful as I prepare to hone things for my thesis. I could certainly bring additional work, however, I'm not sure if that would get acros</div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUz2rnxrog8Juh4hcwjtlWm-vqzPj3NTiSLNrj8vR9hyUy-BnMwkDcs1q3BdUlE_mQVxyEpNo5QYQI95DCfdbUFXI9z9v1JCExHKsJJ2DjhZ108xBH_lFDMvRpHKYB0pH_oPLMT9cT1gEZ/s400/BenoistPortrait-dune-negres.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348767986184534082" /><div>s my message. My advisor really made it clear in the last residency that I should focus on bringing works that were more edited, so here it is. All of these images are 24x16 primarily except for one horizontal image(16x24).I certainly plan to expound even more from these works and to create more, however, it was very difficult to do this semester as I felt that it started much later then usual. I also had the task of really digging deeper into my research to see w</div><div>hat I really needed to be saying and how I really needed to be saying it. I found as I began to at the history of the black image in Western art that I started to see aspects that I was very interested in exploring. And I began to depart from many of the things that I did in past semesters such as the use of text. I don't believe that it's because that I didn't have anything to say, but I began to question myself and why I wanted to use text so much. I believe it's something that is apart of me, and I love writing. So it's almost a natural chain or reaction. I think what really helped me was that I had so many opportunities to write this year, whether it be articles or the papers that I worked on this semester. Not that the papers have changed from past semesters, but I guess I sort of felt settled into my topic so much more. When I first started the MFA program I felt so sensitive about writing about African American art or art of </div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5kD5IxgqrEEkFoZE7RtiBbLxmU71z7GQ74S1lNwNq5-dhfaTihfJyZ2And-2mcpLPMVHE8oJrWyl57MNIeLtGc1vowr9Mv92RMp4KrkqqtqAIIwJKFslfbx4bYXS_jz2YLN0ZynGG_MqQ/s400/DelacroixzMulatto-Woman2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348767981587994418" /><div>the African diaspora. Yet over time I started to experience a momentum that really helped me through this semester. I have to say honestly that it was my writing that helped me to make sense of what I really wanted to do. I also had some great encouragement and advice from my mentor Howardena Pindell, who was very helpful to me. I had been working on the brown paper bags, which I will continue to do, however, I felt like the message was getting across so much better with these digital paintings I began to make. In my mind I believe that I had already knew this was where I was going, however, I think sometimes we choose to go along for the ride, take a couple of detours, just for the fun of it. I think all of it has taught be a lot and has </div><div>given me a new sense of understanding for what I want to be doing. I'm more amazed particularly by the Hottentot Venus image that I created, because I never really thought I'd be addressing her topic in my art. I mean there have been many other artists who have such as Rene</div><div>e Cox and Carla Williams, who have used her references in their photography. I'm sure my good friend and curator Barbara Thompson would be tickled to see how her work at the Hood Museum and Davis Museum has influenced what I'm doing now. I don't think I'll ever forget the excitement that my mentor Ms. Pindell expressed when she saw my photo sketches of the project. And it really hit me how important history is to art, and how it allows us to reflect on so much more then maybe the main topic. Besides a rough start I feel that I'm fairly pleased with the outcome this semester. I think there are definitely great things to come...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeoH5Jgi5N-rvE9Gv-ZwdIUc5mZEJrEtloYTiqSEDtGwAqoYb3CxDDvaJX3H-auP8Itxu61eSY4m3O-bSZ3YTxtQqDESWl9uRTcwMvn1BMbjlc5Za2KP7eFHM71IJCLnezJJMa0ybBMe-1/s1600-h/BellsThe-Octoroonwhair.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeoH5Jgi5N-rvE9Gv-ZwdIUc5mZEJrEtloYTiqSEDtGwAqoYb3CxDDvaJX3H-auP8Itxu61eSY4m3O-bSZ3YTxtQqDESWl9uRTcwMvn1BMbjlc5Za2KP7eFHM71IJCLnezJJMa0ybBMe-1/s400/BellsThe-Octoroonwhair.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348767974409219442" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYZ-cliswcwF93NFiG8hGhr6ltd0PN6XJLkya3_f653EhLhu9FNeLNe4sdJqv0DG66hMynIZkNnEPTNEQkNuJIHVOkuyHMwohtJ2MfLFn1s6FmI-qQiYU1n2LqqB478g_y9uevIQ98HlG/s1600-h/BazilleLanegresseaux-pivoin.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYZ-cliswcwF93NFiG8hGhr6ltd0PN6XJLkya3_f653EhLhu9FNeLNe4sdJqv0DG66hMynIZkNnEPTNEQkNuJIHVOkuyHMwohtJ2MfLFn1s6FmI-qQiYU1n2LqqB478g_y9uevIQ98HlG/s400/BazilleLanegresseaux-pivoin.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348767973112433634" /></a><br /></div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-1503378754170910892009-05-17T09:40:00.000-07:002009-05-17T10:00:01.354-07:00Curator/writer Bill Arning new director in Houston!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIJV-25-myRTbqEBvukA3QhIl01h-fGpUW4X2wz_sVq2ZfsRYrUOjEyZWHQKs7uqR-lFKUARoOSYt4M_Mc6ogOgIGD92lugVnsTXK0snWhB-9rt5r6cXwJ1Ngw37JwiaTqQ-YBg-6ZhoJ/s1600-h/photo_index_feature.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 304px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIJV-25-myRTbqEBvukA3QhIl01h-fGpUW4X2wz_sVq2ZfsRYrUOjEyZWHQKs7uqR-lFKUARoOSYt4M_Mc6ogOgIGD92lugVnsTXK0snWhB-9rt5r6cXwJ1Ngw37JwiaTqQ-YBg-6ZhoJ/s400/photo_index_feature.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336838612167402610" border="0" /></a><br />I was pleased to hear that the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston had recruited curator/writer Bill Arning as their new director over the museum. Over the years he's had the opportunity to impact the Houston arts scene, so I know his presence there will be a major contribution to the region. I'm looking forward to seeing all the great things that come from this! Mr. Arning has worked with a number of students that have come from the AIB program and to my knowledge he has is one who appreciates new and innovative ideas in culture and theory. I'm glad because I think that the Houston area could benefit from his leadership, and I expect to see exhibitions that are new and refreshing. Along with venues such as Project Row Houses and DiverseWorks, I believe that the Contemporary Arts Museum the potential to take the art world by storm. Show them what Houston has to offer!<br /><br />Contemporary Arts Museum Houston<br />5216 Montrose Blvd.<br />Houston, TX 77006-6598<br /><a href="mailto:info@camh.org">info@camh.org </a><br /><a href="http://www.camh.org/">http://www.camh.org/</a><br /><br />Project Row Houses<br />2521 Holman (between St. Charles and Live Oak Streets)<br />Phone: 713.526.7662<br />Fax: 713.526.1623<br />Email: <a title="email Project Row Houses" href="mailto:info@projectrowhouses.org">info@projectrowhouses.org</a><br /><strong style="font-weight: normal;">Hours:</strong> Noon - 5:00 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday<br /><a href="http://projectrowhouses.org/">http://projectrowhouses.org</a><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif';font-size:10;" >DiverseWorks<br />1117 E. Freeway<br />Houston, Texas 77002<br /><strong style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif';">Phone:</span></strong>713.223.8346 </span><br /><a href="http://www.diverseworks.org/">http://www.diverseworks.org/</a>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-79997962769979243182009-05-06T11:32:00.000-07:002009-05-06T12:39:17.323-07:00This is what it is...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01txL34zmpVwd8SfwLCE31MAyPw2fLp17BMLsk7LdK9dcbBElW0cCeM1qcdHhSbk2uYnInxwzuoJHFdzHfq6o7D10L0sr8RjbaVheXj9BkoR_3Dot_Cay3rJtzkQvHwQON6zsi2pnY9SL/s1600-h/IMG_2009.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01txL34zmpVwd8SfwLCE31MAyPw2fLp17BMLsk7LdK9dcbBElW0cCeM1qcdHhSbk2uYnInxwzuoJHFdzHfq6o7D10L0sr8RjbaVheXj9BkoR_3Dot_Cay3rJtzkQvHwQON6zsi2pnY9SL/s400/IMG_2009.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332787535422185058" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwfxyaFZ971dorN5jqeX1u6HRa4NUfKrdCu9-m0ZATO7dEPvFbIdEWu6paGoCklFMVTiMoH2zOcug37DXfAiPhvNnnX3nAqEezAJtilhnVk3T_sYTYyNeQq0d82aOnDeZDg5ZmxYk8Qmad/s1600-h/IMG_2007.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwfxyaFZ971dorN5jqeX1u6HRa4NUfKrdCu9-m0ZATO7dEPvFbIdEWu6paGoCklFMVTiMoH2zOcug37DXfAiPhvNnnX3nAqEezAJtilhnVk3T_sYTYyNeQq0d82aOnDeZDg5ZmxYk8Qmad/s400/IMG_2007.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332787530602517794" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Na4f2lcIL04n5WbJ-ni92ZwZybEo6_aXjthePA92LyJNaBnq3Y2QRr15H8yUPNuk_IbZeJhQNfRBnaSmxn8Ar0b7yWoWpjmATGOO2IREB-rkn7C_U7SQDYRjT6f4YIWOEzPuns_fKVTU/s1600-h/Essential+magazine.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 305px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Na4f2lcIL04n5WbJ-ni92ZwZybEo6_aXjthePA92LyJNaBnq3Y2QRr15H8yUPNuk_IbZeJhQNfRBnaSmxn8Ar0b7yWoWpjmATGOO2IREB-rkn7C_U7SQDYRjT6f4YIWOEzPuns_fKVTU/s400/Essential+magazine.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332787529841747378" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOfOFAvhB6mbzipqFLEaoWG5phoCosObf2RnMCxQltlw6lfggf9p6uwResw9XeX8OBVViDw-OxhlOqpgS_NdXvwJXint2b_0oxfqm79B-nU8KzBSiKcdOaMXPQmY9-US66OI-FzFrvvmp/s1600-h/Representation-in-History_9.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 284px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOfOFAvhB6mbzipqFLEaoWG5phoCosObf2RnMCxQltlw6lfggf9p6uwResw9XeX8OBVViDw-OxhlOqpgS_NdXvwJXint2b_0oxfqm79B-nU8KzBSiKcdOaMXPQmY9-US66OI-FzFrvvmp/s400/Representation-in-History_9.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332787528094569922" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNiakIeADRTv-Al72pHE6OS5Clz_TzX3znqJAXr_MWtY_NSbsZuKdEKKVwaTeLIMNaO1pBK5GrgMAqse2S0lNUnhYxFQ__CcdLt4LUxHrGOLkmLTK0y89VUlsB5XBDrT3QeuCckYkqa8G3/s1600-h/Jean-Baptiste+Carpeaux_Pourquoi+naitre+esclave.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 293px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNiakIeADRTv-Al72pHE6OS5Clz_TzX3znqJAXr_MWtY_NSbsZuKdEKKVwaTeLIMNaO1pBK5GrgMAqse2S0lNUnhYxFQ__CcdLt4LUxHrGOLkmLTK0y89VUlsB5XBDrT3QeuCckYkqa8G3/s400/Jean-Baptiste+Carpeaux_Pourquoi+naitre+esclave.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332786473969839314" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3zDL07T_xOqgd72dkfwM1XoliqjfLtW9tAgi6n_aOgUbZJoi239lxUl41eOkIw0n9jfwhWrLIyINq0q-ZYAC3N5VGqK0OuyYGNDcUd6wVu6W8lJkxkyMTNZovYDZl4qhyhQw9Nwkv7bDH/s1600-h/Representation-in-History_5.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3zDL07T_xOqgd72dkfwM1XoliqjfLtW9tAgi6n_aOgUbZJoi239lxUl41eOkIw0n9jfwhWrLIyINq0q-ZYAC3N5VGqK0OuyYGNDcUd6wVu6W8lJkxkyMTNZovYDZl4qhyhQw9Nwkv7bDH/s400/Representation-in-History_5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332786471232734882" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1WIhZh5puSXZcCd8Ye2cBbLziUe1-h-dSYbT-b792HTi2_Th6-my-kgxM8Fm3MoBDl4tYdzPHaIF96-AVNMsW2CQQR2BdNisiqtOAOqXxd6qG_1XezAIysRvcOe9VtHbWy3c7sK7VPyV/s1600-h/Delacroix_Aspasie,+The+Mulatto+Woman.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 324px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1WIhZh5puSXZcCd8Ye2cBbLziUe1-h-dSYbT-b792HTi2_Th6-my-kgxM8Fm3MoBDl4tYdzPHaIF96-AVNMsW2CQQR2BdNisiqtOAOqXxd6qG_1XezAIysRvcOe9VtHbWy3c7sK7VPyV/s400/Delacroix_Aspasie,+The+Mulatto+Woman.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332786465685679506" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMWu5DAPe46ZpzhyphenhyphenpPSIC24FqCASAq9ymg2-6rC4djL04Y85anqBpByeddNl59aWMpFvWynG7F7PjuaCwnaKiKcOcmcl5xmgv0_P3-ofC054_CG4yUOi9ypiRBVMv42MkfLSBI8USGOaP/s1600-h/Benoist_Portriat+d%27une+negresse.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 311px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMWu5DAPe46ZpzhyphenhyphenpPSIC24FqCASAq9ymg2-6rC4djL04Y85anqBpByeddNl59aWMpFvWynG7F7PjuaCwnaKiKcOcmcl5xmgv0_P3-ofC054_CG4yUOi9ypiRBVMv42MkfLSBI8USGOaP/s400/Benoist_Portriat+d%27une+negresse.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332786460434542658" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWHVei7buihURmtTu27BlmdU0DwLzTcfhDZBEDeX2yoO2pl7quM_ck4IkG-5jnYx0GQx3vH6ZgIKNqFCkSrfaNrpUkKldeS1HYHUCWkE00-ZRV2BPemFIF6x5kig0-YA_1-4NyUEWLf2-/s1600-h/Representation-in-History_3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWHVei7buihURmtTu27BlmdU0DwLzTcfhDZBEDeX2yoO2pl7quM_ck4IkG-5jnYx0GQx3vH6ZgIKNqFCkSrfaNrpUkKldeS1HYHUCWkE00-ZRV2BPemFIF6x5kig0-YA_1-4NyUEWLf2-/s400/Representation-in-History_3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332786459358668626" /></a>Wow...this has been one hectic and overwhelming term, yet I'm amazed that the upcoming AIB residency will be my fourth! Where did the time go? But anyway, I thought I would share some of the pieces I've been working on over the past months. Though some I'll have to share over time because I've taken a lot of images and I'm working on different projects at the same time. I'm working on a magazine project which I'm not sure if I'm going to be bringing to the residency or not, as well as some new images on the brown paper bags. I've been actually been piecing together bags to make these huge 70 inch wide paper made of the bags and I've begun to place some tracings on top. <div><br /></div><div>After meeting with my mentor Howardena Pindell, she suggested that I look into acid free paper instead of the bags. She has been very encouraging as well about my ideas and where my work is going. I thought a lot about the acid-free paper suggestion, and I decided that due to the amount of time and interest I invested into the bags I will most likely stick it out as I'm enjoying the ability to use found objects that have such deep meanings. Also, the whole point of this project is to deconstruct the brown paper bag itself, the fact that overtime it deconstructs itself and won't last actually best stresses my point as well. But I am definitely interested in using grocery bag colored acid free paper in the future because I do think it's important to think about preservation.</div><div><br /></div><div>In addition, to the bag pieces I've been working on a series of images that have a great deal to do with my thesis topic, The representation of the black in western art. I had set towards focusing it on American art, but I find that I'm most interested in the images done by Europeans! go figure. So I'm not sure if focusing on American art is something I'm directly talking about in my work, though it's related. Because the research that I've been doing on the representation of the black in American visual culture is definitely coming up, but not so much in the images that I'm referencing. For instance the Marie-Guilhelmin Beniost's painting, "Portrait d'une negresse," and Eugene Delacroix's "The Mulatto Woman." Perhaps it's because they represent the aspects of "blackness" that I feel less familar and connected with. They are two different extremes of black womanhood, Benoist's "African woman" and Delacroix's half-black woman. It is often thought that to the dominate culture these two different extremes of blackness are unseen or unknown compared to what I would say our black society refers to. They are assumed to see two completely different black people one light and one dark as the same, such as the saying "if your black your black." But I'm not quite sure about this. I mean let's be honest here. Why would Benoist paint her version of a black woman and why did Delacroix paint his, I have to think that their interpretations of these different women were different otherwise they would pick the same looking women. And when I say different extremes or types of black women I mean as in "light and dark" because I think that as black women we tend to see ourselves and other black women in light and dark, even if we don't want or mean to. So with that being said, I don't think that anyone on this earth who has eyes and who can see would be blind to not see those differences as well. Yet, I do feel that people subconsciously make decisions about picking this type of woman over that one with out their own knowledge. THIS is why I have done these self-portraits as muses of the women that these white European artists have made certain decisions, whether conscious or unconscious, to pick a certain type(light or dark) of black woman as the subject of their images. My images attempt to create a dialogue about those choices, almost like saying, "but what if it were me?" to show the affect of the image with respect to the subject that is chosen.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now to talk about the magazine. I've constructed a ficticous magazine that is plays into the ideas of representation of black women in print media. So far I've only designed the cover of the magazine, but I will be seeking contributors to submit articles and features for the publication of it. I will also try to recruit some writers myself, but If there is anyone that's interest please feel free. </div><div><br /></div><div>The residency is coming up in June, and I'll be really thinking about what exactly I'll be bringing. Most likely I'll be bringing the self-portrait images because it says more of what I think I'm going.Plus, I don't want to bring to many different things again because I will be accused on not focusing(which is very irritating) like previous residencies. The brown paper bag pieces that I'm working on now, maybe just another series that I continue to do outside of the program. Who knows? I'm leaving it all open for now. I'll be doing some additional work to the self-portrait images because I see them being more like digital paintings, right now they are just photographs but they will be much more when I'm done!</div><div><br /></div><div>So that's all for now, but there will be much more later!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-23898387080999962252009-03-23T06:20:00.000-07:002009-03-23T07:26:02.189-07:00Light vs. Dark Comparisons<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNPATRkSLChbowCj3SiWuLqUxOJ9F8fmsBAOipyx7T9aqEwwSdlVnD4DVarBlhdFyeCggmOLc9UCu4vNnoDqJ1f7kwqOhHLmyhAsVf9ULvxe4lJVI1Pd8xnyYk7GZmvwfg64YdYBYRP5Sf/s1600-h/IMG_1752.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNPATRkSLChbowCj3SiWuLqUxOJ9F8fmsBAOipyx7T9aqEwwSdlVnD4DVarBlhdFyeCggmOLc9UCu4vNnoDqJ1f7kwqOhHLmyhAsVf9ULvxe4lJVI1Pd8xnyYk7GZmvwfg64YdYBYRP5Sf/s400/IMG_1752.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316372597887557746" /></a>After coming back from the residency I began to think a lot about how I might want to go about rendering "different modes of expressions" as Sunanda would say. So after the residency I started to experiment with an adhesive back transfer paper that I had bought some months ago. I had thought at the time that it would something really new for me to use and it would allow me to place images on my work in a different way then cutting and pasting actual images from photo paper. This way the images would have a translucence to them which was definitely what I was looking for. It would allow me to keep the character of the material that I was using, the brown paper bag, while not directly being limited with just drawings and photographs. <div><br /></div><div>A while ago as I was investigating the whole colorism subject I had begun to compile these images of prominent African Americans who were a visible reference of what I know people classify as "light-skinned" and "dark- skinned." During that time it was pre- President Obama so there were a number of images of Barack and Michelle Obama to choose from. I found however that I was more interested in Michelle Obama than Barack Obama though, not so much because I wasn't excited about a potential black president, but I was interested in the reason for so many black women's interest in Michelle Obama. Not only is she a educated, a intellectual, and a well spoken woman, but what I heard from many women is that "finally a darker-skinned woman got the break." This interested me because it changed for me how I interpreted people's perception of Barack Obama. On one hand there were many white people specifically in the media who thought she was a threatening figure, where at different times they framed her to be a hinderance to his campaign. Yet, on the other hand to black women she was the very reason they accepted Barack Obama, or took him more seriously. Perhaps it is because people had seen numerous "light-skinned" men in power who were wonderful speakers, and who had fought for the "black cause" but either married white or a woman who was"near white." What that communicates is something far more than I think people realize. </div><div><br /></div><div>So anyway, I was particularly interested in the way that the media was portraying her. There was one image on the cover of "Times" that caught my eye, because it portrays Michelle in a very innocent way(with her arms covering her). During this same time I had begun to collect some images of Beyonce' as well, because she for me emphasizes a woman of color who has been able to be so universal perhaps because of her skin tone. And also, she came under some controversy last year because of her ads in Loreal, which in my impression I had suspected they had been using lightened images much earlier than now but I suppose people are just now catching on. Beyonce' has also made it known that she now identifies as "creole"(50% Creole of Color from her mother and her father is African American), which I feel is an interesting change as well. </div><div><br /><div>But together they both represent two women of color who have achieved a certain level of achievement, Beyonce as an entertainer and First Lady Michelle Obama has achieved academic and professional success not to mention being the "Mom-in-chief." So here are these two women who both believe in the same upperwardly mobile ideals( Beyonce apparently grew up looking up to professional women like Michelle Obama in her mother's salon in Houston, Texas), yet the one thing that separates them in the eyes of the black community is their skin tone. Coming from a woman who was born and raised in Houston, Texas I am fully aware of how Beyonce was viewed in the community, particularly during the rise of Destiny's Child in the late 90s to early 2000s I remember people from my high school and across the city who could sense some "skin tone-marketing" at the core of their group. Beyonce, the lighter skinned member( not to mention daughter of the manager), was singing lead, while the other darker members(even if a few shades) were at the back ups. Whether this theory is true I don't know, but it seemed like there was a movement about this across America even prior to: Salt-N-Peppa, SWV, EnVogue, TLC, Xscape(Teeny),702, then much later on 3LW. All of these groups typically had a lighter-skinned member and most of the girls when I was growing up wanted to be her, whether they were dark or light. This is a puzzling phenomenon to me, but I'll get back to that later. So by comparing these two women I think it really allows one to see how color conscious the world really is, which surely doesn't make it right but somehow you wonder how and when will it change.</div></div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-17423041998773488812009-03-18T07:36:00.000-07:002009-03-18T10:33:01.180-07:00Moving Slow...<img style="float:right; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 249px; height: 252px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj97ccnBJiMXkLTtM5Dckkvztoobgg4talGnlGdJUh8E08yvHT_bMG0hQNGJ_X5xLiR7nFqN4JgjTzBlawSsQpBMTmXvJGrtcnSG5lVeKpIGZ8v3tRvsU0xWXPrQ8brkaM7qZH_p6dUyl5C/s400/BARCIN.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314558374255038994" />This semester has moved as slow as ever. Though I've contacted many different artists I've had the greatest challenge this semester to find a studio mentor. I'm not really sure why. But I've been taking it all in stride. My focus has been really more so on trying to get my ac<div>ademic side of studying down, as I prepare my t</div><div>hesis outline for the end of the semester. So far that has been the best thing that's been motivating me lately. Though I've started to get work going by taking photographs and making drawings again, it was really challenging to get a flow going because I was waiting on getting a mentor. I originally thought I had found a mentor, but unfortunately they backed out at the last minute. So I'm hoping I can get that done sooner rather than later. As of now, I recently connected with African American woman artist, Howardena Pindell, who has agreed to be my studio mentory. She is an African American woman artist who has exhibited all over the world, and whose work I recently saw at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, Texas this past Decemberat the exhibition, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Cinema Remixed and Reloaded, Black Women Artists and the moving image since 1970s.</span></div><img style="float:right; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUlnL0LRepmG7zwvfHGCkPOA5f0F-WdT0bAdmIgFHOMACZ1xphicwW86kjLa1ROceLwUBbXt1iYqrEpybzCbHjsP0VRMWaUoIp_WnT7b4Dbiny8D9e0EHD_UYzRze4Gd0V5nq6jQsUkl5E/s400/energy-experiment_pindell-free-white.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314559086054238802" /><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span><div><div>She had an amazing video entitled"Free, White and 21"( to right is a video still from Free, White and 21, with Howardena Pindell in "white face")where she tells various experiences about being discriminated against because of her color, and in contrast a "white Howardena" is making comments about how she should be grateful. It was a very striking video that has given her much critical acclaim as well as her other abstract works. I'm thrilled and delighted to be able to work with her, as well as extremely grateful as she as a well known artist who I'm sure has much to do.</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>So just to catch you up, since the last residency at the advisement of my advisor, I've been doing quite a bit of research on the representation of Black in American visual culture, and it's been a really good process. I finally feel like there is a good direction for my work to go and I'm really excited about preparing everything for the next residency. I'm doing a range of different things but ultimately I'll bringing one body of work to the next residency. I'm also looking at the possibility of adding video as well, so I believe that by working with Howardena that will give me some good feedback to go on. I should have some new images up soon for you to view as well.</div><div><br /></div><div> As for recent exhibitions that I've seen, I went to the Danforth Museum to see Faith Ringgold's <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Story Quilts</span> exhibition as well as Sedrick Huckaby's <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Love Supreme</span>(The below right images are of Faith Ringgold's Jazz Story Quilts and one of Sed</div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 154px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvknLFU_foQ_e8haeCb2o9gs7R1Chjdh9vpan_zxgvY8ZG7bFYwjAu9NPjprMcl-TXNHGsw6VmPOoiZLVB4Rgyqsp-klt0PZKsse8KTN3OX4EPUsB__UWKUsmFiu1tB7d2FE9urqwjfst/s400/g2582581d0549e04d74dda784afd0599e54dffd4e0d8af9.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314537230816637250" /><div>rick Huckaby's quilt paintings). They were both equally amazing, and very inspiring. It made me think a lot about my work in terms of using material and subjects of African American culture. Faith Ringgold's figures felt very connected to mine not specifically in style but in the evidence of place and movement in her work. Sedrick Huckaby's work really related to me because of his paintings of quilts, but also the scale of the work. I was in awe of how massive the paintings were and how much they said though the quilts in contrast to Faith Ringgold had abstract forms instead of human figures. It reminded me of some images that my mother sent of my great grandmother's quilts that she made with my gran-</div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 349px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAwAgmUeEkobxg6rW4Y7cW3T0D4HQKnLYY7NZS_v3t_9ICzr-AHMLjzGkAe4X0J6hkMs_DbLzsAXhY2AlsjVBCkeiqCu3w1gnQvNjdRZe_A-eYd-TdnJ05ELLBZ3gIQoj3TLCR8zNcmcta/s400/artwork_images_118045_463488_sedrick-huckaby.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314550487394761330" />dmother and uncle. I'm really interested in how to meld the quilting theme into my work somehow, I'm slowly beginning to see how I might think of doing that. But seeing Mr. Huckaby's work definitely gave me lots to think about.</div><div><br /><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span></div><div> </div><div>I actually saw his work while I was at the January AIB residency because he had an exhibition at Nielsen Gallery. He had some amazing paintings of African American family, one being his painting of his grandmother in "Big Mama's House"( right). It made me think of my facination with the images of my grandparents, great-grandparents, ancestors and the draw to history in my work. I feel that history tells so much about us and I'm interested in intergrating history into the ideas in my work. </div><div> </div><div>Looking at all of the representations of blacks in Western art have given me so much background to look towards. There was a particular painting by Marie Guillemin</div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 246px; height: 350px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEPPVx4vTffyczLNrVi0jmIGSBSwTo6GYKwhzARK9ULJCtw-6ym7oZ-E4z-JOUl6R_RvqSuYJxNDHUD1mQUUkuHrsrBIn9z8zuwnHeL1ozcA7JNlD5Jofs3VN4uACwrWAHAX-ZGodulDzo/s400/fr_SomebodyStoleMyBroken.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314537229870282082" /><div>e Benoist entitled, "Portrait of a Black Woman"(below image) that struck me most. I read alittle about this p</div><div>ainting in one of the volumes in the series "Black in Western Art" by Harvard. This image was supposed to be a pivotal image because it portrays a black women in a more beautiful way, and most accurate because it was an a</div><div>ctual model. So I'm interested in looking at the representation of blackness in this way. There is much more that I could go on about but I will keep it at there for now. Until next time....</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><img style="float:right; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKCWC2DohEYkIYZPbRCnqpe6ferVO_sjrXjjgtc6f5qh9GzohjAfBGP6q1VvUILvy_g1KPWKM3sh1kqTmTnqqvs0glBqAGK8Sl6t1ltglWRIc3eFlkvszYZYXaQf6-MMTiTxeERnyEqYkr/s400/M.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314569180270672162" /></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-69745999922300248842009-01-18T09:26:00.000-08:002009-01-18T09:40:24.201-08:00AIB Residency<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7CX-myhKfJfDdFi3bKPrXIynZAC8PkwxVPQZV8GnfUZ8CIP_HtRmiNvqvKCUKZW-vNPz9PMxABdgMLxX3XhesHQPwe3GfvZ_uFNQQ1G6giVAwpG1ay-sxWHZfwClsixTSSFQOrBPlU2i1/s1600-h/IMG_1736.jpg"><br /><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7CX-myhKfJfDdFi3bKPrXIynZAC8PkwxVPQZV8GnfUZ8CIP_HtRmiNvqvKCUKZW-vNPz9PMxABdgMLxX3XhesHQPwe3GfvZ_uFNQQ1G6giVAwpG1ay-sxWHZfwClsixTSSFQOrBPlU2i1/s400/IMG_1736.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292689482555262866" /></a>Here are just some pics from my crit space at the AIB residency. Overall I can equate that I had a good response from the work, with areas where I plan to work on this semester. I'm actually really excited about what I'll be working on next. Feel free to make comments or suggestions.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsQdkhGM_jVF0Wdryf7jk0n6hc6WTfYEwjjE3d_cbksaV1OyOXyp3wAwwK3njO-UROUhOGqub1WOQH3kq4K_zaBE-6Dck6RQpY4YuKRvEu-F4L23UUfeSAfY0pU5z3n0D5zk5ZZxhst2N/s1600-h/IMG_1735.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsQdkhGM_jVF0Wdryf7jk0n6hc6WTfYEwjjE3d_cbksaV1OyOXyp3wAwwK3njO-UROUhOGqub1WOQH3kq4K_zaBE-6Dck6RQpY4YuKRvEu-F4L23UUfeSAfY0pU5z3n0D5zk5ZZxhst2N/s400/IMG_1735.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292689475967902914" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxklDrksBdDQahiGTguq6z_ii6-cxzqHBAeLUzbXYKyd6CqxkzqiaSZ5Zgib44kxeX3Rnes7V0lN5FB_T3JbtXzY9CdbnWCdfNMA9guDgDVoILJhK-yeQJ5f9dferFzPinaCj-6NpsPVLI/s1600-h/IMG_1739.jpg"><img style="float:right; 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margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFnhvSL-lteYYVFcFU2vAnyoTj3CKt0Cvzla_QuNvaC9zwSrVy7wFu-BGC4URICEgOMp_1ec2_su_lhon9swDTBVKZVC_sMmfNkvSNBEthXZxNnfhf0OnNapBYQ9XX7VEuaSxqCrD9dvEy/s400/IMG_1719.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292688711079790642" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTeHs1EmHna_b3E2wg6BEDUB-AJ6pjz92bsnF5AtsMDIvCe__HZSfnj6S2krHyDFVlZYaGQLQzdXqOf4CpuPqFJHFT_E-GolY7Kc8yBd4rJnFvVqmVZDivXsVyxQjptnoV2wq8U1hDLg1D/s1600-h/IMG_1715.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTeHs1EmHna_b3E2wg6BEDUB-AJ6pjz92bsnF5AtsMDIvCe__HZSfnj6S2krHyDFVlZYaGQLQzdXqOf4CpuPqFJHFT_E-GolY7Kc8yBd4rJnFvVqmVZDivXsVyxQjptnoV2wq8U1hDLg1D/s400/IMG_1715.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292688704763298290" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSNBNGD-qpAwOhvBOa9oYgx2yMrlCFGfI-qjf_jyUNzD81l-cmzEP02iWMlA_n8FHGzMIEVr8fsyktLQvW-_7-ldUg_z-WKgv84OIf8_QOT3slKoMBblRgWB5QMPTe-rJZb2gtLN4gQNWb/s1600-h/IMG_1709.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSNBNGD-qpAwOhvBOa9oYgx2yMrlCFGfI-qjf_jyUNzD81l-cmzEP02iWMlA_n8FHGzMIEVr8fsyktLQvW-_7-ldUg_z-WKgv84OIf8_QOT3slKoMBblRgWB5QMPTe-rJZb2gtLN4gQNWb/s400/IMG_1709.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292688697394850706" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSL5wqhIPIVaNRBAPW9oBk_8SmcjNWvkWSZtD4hbmWHFCAtRuLwLNfe9a4dRWjTCYDV9Vt9i59HLy141YGeQE1vVdkv2l36z2AfZnBN-z7maBdAxoAxjgtD9p92e3RfzEMCFjmj1cwarQ/s1600-h/IMG_1707.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSL5wqhIPIVaNRBAPW9oBk_8SmcjNWvkWSZtD4hbmWHFCAtRuLwLNfe9a4dRWjTCYDV9Vt9i59HLy141YGeQE1vVdkv2l36z2AfZnBN-z7maBdAxoAxjgtD9p92e3RfzEMCFjmj1cwarQ/s400/IMG_1707.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292688693932441490" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0pig2K6oATjC3Dwu9XZC2G_O9xcr2pcjnrmGGgwgjFrnNg7FtHEKI9b8848uKEg4gTJ0sFs5jZ8TF2fAL1aoKWKNxcH7Ldb58tMC9de4QEEkhJV8f1biznhUfNVjeJ0J8jL89uTnTWiH/s1600-h/IMG_1699.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0pig2K6oATjC3Dwu9XZC2G_O9xcr2pcjnrmGGgwgjFrnNg7FtHEKI9b8848uKEg4gTJ0sFs5jZ8TF2fAL1aoKWKNxcH7Ldb58tMC9de4QEEkhJV8f1biznhUfNVjeJ0J8jL89uTnTWiH/s320/IMG_1699.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292687658303225954" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDM6Xocs3uKZr_LUzSuje6oGxPSX-f4XoCpknuwU3l2ojKLIDXzikEciLDzRkUx7NbbEWfYKPLEwv0yx1vsUye6JKToUUGYuzqaeYx1VaXNE3H6hMyF6Q5Rrh2SnrBwr2ljQ5u_Ehi5LR/s1600-h/IMG_1694.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDM6Xocs3uKZr_LUzSuje6oGxPSX-f4XoCpknuwU3l2ojKLIDXzikEciLDzRkUx7NbbEWfYKPLEwv0yx1vsUye6JKToUUGYuzqaeYx1VaXNE3H6hMyF6Q5Rrh2SnrBwr2ljQ5u_Ehi5LR/s320/IMG_1694.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292687658281034050" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEpqUtgc2zIspuyB1VkMXMaerJECuAMdEMVG_shRq4llOpTPXMuKweOT5Gfuhbf-QvMsF6JWtI4LcRGVVcdrTN9ElAxmA-b8ATE1PQEsxIILuP1sbjVIGcMRI75ZU6m_dSUgWzYgbIAJbs/s1600-h/IMG_1693.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEpqUtgc2zIspuyB1VkMXMaerJECuAMdEMVG_shRq4llOpTPXMuKweOT5Gfuhbf-QvMsF6JWtI4LcRGVVcdrTN9ElAxmA-b8ATE1PQEsxIILuP1sbjVIGcMRI75ZU6m_dSUgWzYgbIAJbs/s320/IMG_1693.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292687652245026402" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzTZ7P_Uug2w-uG1MdFFDT5C1MvZQCfrCX_yGjiM2JAEQj-V2-33TPBVb8wcyqgTkkkDsIZF2rMqnmqTLnPQMBHX0SqqjC9Nwyfz5eP0UqwQTGjMmoIhT6ZhXPD5OjtS8Eo_pfX9EAvqlI/s1600-h/IMG_1692.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzTZ7P_Uug2w-uG1MdFFDT5C1MvZQCfrCX_yGjiM2JAEQj-V2-33TPBVb8wcyqgTkkkDsIZF2rMqnmqTLnPQMBHX0SqqjC9Nwyfz5eP0UqwQTGjMmoIhT6ZhXPD5OjtS8Eo_pfX9EAvqlI/s320/IMG_1692.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292687648329378290" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjqtdSrdhs2EAczdM4LkK2bIROwh_HEq1XIVa2uCAyYmD5PbdT12iSayIMnoFsnnW6BKpr1AL9dpEPufcyceKXXN-GoWYqaepOat7PYsegMeg5rK8i7MXqxFIoPiewyUU8l8QHhjeXKPV/s1600-h/IMG_1691.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjqtdSrdhs2EAczdM4LkK2bIROwh_HEq1XIVa2uCAyYmD5PbdT12iSayIMnoFsnnW6BKpr1AL9dpEPufcyceKXXN-GoWYqaepOat7PYsegMeg5rK8i7MXqxFIoPiewyUU8l8QHhjeXKPV/s320/IMG_1691.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292687638855828002" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-90145526471797916882008-10-31T11:26:00.000-07:002008-10-31T12:14:12.238-07:00Preview of the series "Can't we stick together?"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKhPgZIxNjUBKXRNoGIIDXWFeO6dvteeHRMbuH3886_zbtZcLKeTPgCpzVtSbERRt08UhzD39D8bRM2RA0QAxmmBuQ1yCbzJ91HCh5js4MyuzTDS6aWNaX8B7p47-h24cJCawHz2HE0HFi/s1600-h/Untitled,+from+the+Can%27t+we+stick+together%3Fseries,drawing+on+paper.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKhPgZIxNjUBKXRNoGIIDXWFeO6dvteeHRMbuH3886_zbtZcLKeTPgCpzVtSbERRt08UhzD39D8bRM2RA0QAxmmBuQ1yCbzJ91HCh5js4MyuzTDS6aWNaX8B7p47-h24cJCawHz2HE0HFi/s400/Untitled,+from+the+Can%27t+we+stick+together%3Fseries,drawing+on+paper.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263387147126056610" /></a>Last semester I started this series of Untitled drawings called"Can't we stick together?" I started this project with just the drawings, and I sort of put it to the side for a while so that I could focus on the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Yellowbone</span> piece and the other works. This semester I re-visited them and found so much in each drawing that I hadn't seen before. I found a way to express how I was feelings about the colorism issue in a way that felt right to me, using flesh tone color pencils( There is a funny story of my buying all of these different flesh tone pencils at my local art supply store. The black guy at the register inquired as to what type of project was requiring me to buy so many "black skin tones." I replied by saying I was working on a colorism project, he smiled while saying "hmmm... that's sounds interesting") Originally, when I was making these drawings I had a different mindset about what they were suppose to mean. They were suppose to be the "answer" to the problem. Then as I began to do so much extensive research on the subject, I felt overwhelmed by the complexity of everything. I realized how deeply embedded this concept has been implanted within our culture, nearly 400 years ago!! So I felt this sense of reality of how huge this issue really was. I imagined the fact that so many black people of darker complexion have died believing a lie, that because of their complexion they weren't beautiful or capable of succeeding. I really hated the fact that our society has almost built an extensive concept around this <img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJcv8BUq1_TbuOGxctrQF5ZkxvmlyoPD67_FOHC3L3n2YZ34bXAGEG-XQtP1H36ZlcRVoi7K4t1Zv6Q-WjJuKLLKerWtkbjxhSnQDFArVssvMrwzwlg4UbUpFjRhRs0ozYfZpJkWLWHkK/s400/Untitled,+from+the+Can%27t+we+stick+together%3F+series,+drawing+on+paper.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263387135927311442" />to keep their false idea into existence. I mourned the fact that so many people deal with these issues, even me! So I started drawing these "answer" pieces to show how we could reverse the curse. As niave (this is the word my old mentor Jane Marsching used when I talked about this with her) as this concept may sound, I really have a passion for all black people to love how God created them no matter how culture has tried to polute us. It's just that serious to me. I realize that friendships have ended, families have been broken, and people have lived in depression over skin tone because of the lie of colorism. So if I seem obsessed with this concept it's because <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">it's real.</span><div><br /></div><div> Sunanda Sunyal, one of our MFA faculty, made a statement about my work at the last residency about colorism being a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">internal issue </span>(inside the black community), and he questioned why I'd want to talk about it. Now given please believe that I respect Sunanda, but I felt that question was so disconnected from the stories that I put together in the colorism spread. Anyone who read that piece would understand the necessity to discuss this type of topic, regards of how much people don't like to talk about it because it's painful. But I had a lot of trouble dealing with that statement, because to me it was an excuse to not say what you feel. I don't think we can afford in this day in age to not say and speak our hearts( in love of course), and I've made up in my mind that I'm going to continue to discuss the issues that require us to step into righteousness. </div><div><br /></div><div>I recently finished reading a book called <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Cane River</span> by Lalita Tademy( it was on Oprah's Book club list some years ago). It was a really good read to me because the author Lalita, had done extensive research on her family history and wrote a fiction novel based on her research findings. This was a creative approach to me, and I actually started some years ago doing something similar though I had no idea about Ms. Tademy. Maybe you'll see it published one of these days. But anyway, it was a great projection of this idea that "light is better,"stemming back to the time of slavery. The women in her family made significant decisions in the story to have relationships with white French men in Lousiana, and produce in some cases a dozen mulatto children from their extended relationships. They seemed to do this to gain wealth and access to priviledge, only to be betrayed when the same men would deny those same children as being reasonable heirs to their inheritance. It was a tragedy to see these women believe that they would have a better chance in life( in which some of them did though bitterly), and to find out tradegically that they were still black no matter how light they were. It was also interesting to see some of their offspring choose to pass because of this frustration. All in all the book was a engaging read, and I found it to be helpful to look at the history of colorism in America. The story also caused me to think of a film I saw some years ago called "A Feast of All Saints"(2001) which even intersects with references of the creole of color on <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Cane River</span>. There are other films I could name as well, but it's all very interesting. Well, I'll be sure to pause here for the moment and we will continue on later. Stay tuned to some new upcoming images...on the next blog post.</div><div><br /></div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-47057695241061425892008-10-24T10:48:00.000-07:002008-10-24T12:04:22.403-07:00Black Womanhood Symposium<img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 226px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieAvKlIrh7eU2RahOHYARhsMflcxVM_UVKs37Ed6TtZ_o0w3uigKZzSCJxJnZf9fPTc12_oiHzn1IPRE8Z8odx-M2ZOOIw8L-2DRkZ4Edt4psDUvZ6FfvkUY_Ne0GpW53SDYA51mny9N5D/s400/renee_headshot.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260779677535193138" /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 125px; height: 125px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijw4bPjh7PnWxkKAaIBI4r1beCP6u9JGfnRzNrxCpDV0nuK7KKmgc59T2kGxYXiE1PxuDHMAcxeOKGc8Qe7qrCzgYBXOXiSc5TxrxK848k1m7XnaNF8keIkK11WFDZ2JtnQAtCD7EsccjL/s400/busia.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260780627449482962" />The Davis Museum and Cultural Center is currently showing <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Black Womanhood: Images, Icons, and Ideologies of the African Body until December 14, 2008. </span>I had the privilege to go to the Black Womanhood Symposium this past weekend. It was an awesome and overwhelming experience to see so many black scholars in one venue. It's a rarity and yet at times one doesn't know how to handle that much "black power" at one time. I was so encouraged that my husband also decided to tag along with me, as I know it's not one of his favorite subjects. I think it would be a challenge for me too if I were a man entering into the room with all of these black women talking on the issues and challenges of being a black woman in society. <div><br /></div><div>To my surprise my husband and I came to agreement about two particular people who presented at the symposium, that was scholor Dr. Abena P.A. Busia and artist Renee Cox. Obviously, we had missed the whole set of presenters in the first session, and we were only able to catch the second half. But we were taken by the boldness of Renee, and the passion and intellect that Dr. Abena shared with everyone. Dr. Busia did a very extensive talk on Saar Bartman and it was so compelling. For me the mention of Saar Bartman was a first since I've been in grad school. NO where else have I heard a name mentioned so much, in terms of black art. This is because before I entered grad school I wasn't aware of the separate genre of black art and works from Africa that are beyond African masks and primitiveness. So I found Dr. Busia's talk so insightful for my study because she talked about so many issues in the exhibiting of Saar Bartman in London, and the tragedy of her death as well. She also brought up some interesting points in regards to how black women are portrayed in art by non-black artists. And how that has caused even some black critics to accept certain ideas on black women. There was one particular image that struck me in her presentation. It was an image of a white women on the left, two light-skinned Algerian women in the center, and a image of a dark-skinned black woman at the far right. I wasn't able to catch the name of that painting, but Dr. Busia said something so profound about that image. It had to deal with a comment that was made about the painting that totally silenced the darker complexioned woman on the right. It made me think about a lot of the issues that I'm dealing with my current work, and I thought "Wow that's so interesting." I did manage to speak with her after the session was over so I'm hoping that I might be able to inquire about the name of this image. She also seemed to be well versed in African, African diaspora films so that's another thing I'd love to ask her. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was also able to speak with Renee Cox which I thoroughly enjoyed. She had some really good insight as well, and unconsciously pin pointed a major issue that I'm dealing with in my most recent works, the brown paper bag test. I was asking her advice or asking about her challenges with studying and making art with the minimum amount of writings on black art in her day. We were speaking about issues that she faced in people not understanding her work, and she was so free in expressing the need for new people to step up to the plate and write about art. She particularly expressed the need for black people to write about art because in her eyes we need to be more vocal in the arts community. I really felt that so strongly as I've been thinking a lot about that lately. But, she went on to talk about her reasonings for choosing to date outside of her race. I don't exactly remember how the conversation went in that direction but I found her reasons very intriguing. She talked about not wanting black men to make her feel inferior because she wasn't lighter than a brown paper bag. I thought to myself "Wow!" I say this because looking at her I don't see her as being dark, so I wasn't expecting her to actually reference the "brown paper bag" itself. I think it stuck with me because I've been doing a lot of work with brown paper bag so I thought it was amazing to hear her reference that. Unfortunately, we weren't able to finish that convo as I began to tell her that I was dealing with those particular issues in my work. But I walked away thinking "Hmmm...If Renee Cox has experienced anxiety and rejection in regards to colorism than what I'm talking about isn't silly at all." I felt quite compelled to write more about black art after talking to her, though I have been contemplating it more often anyway. I felt that the symposium really left me with alot to think about, and really gave allowed me to see how right my presumptions had been about the way black issues are perceived.</div><div><br /></div><div>After the sessions there was a presentation by the Wellesley African Student Association that my husband and I did not like at all. There seemed to be an overwhelmingly anti-Christian rhetoric going on which was really quite uncalled for. It seemed to me that these women had a negative connotation for Christianity because of the influence of colonalism on their country. I really felt bad for these ladies, as I can definitely understand how this type of deceptive concept could be misinterpreted. I think it's quite sad that because there were white people who <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">used Christanity </span>as a means to rationalize their motives of trying to take control and dominate other countries, has caused some Africans and other cultures to dismiss Christanity all together. It's just like all the hypocracy within some people in ministry has created difficulty for some non-believers to come to Christ. All of this shouldn't be, because man's sinfulness shouldn't be looked upon as if God wants to see people in pain. This issue is a different blog entry though, but ultimately they brought up some intense issues such as ploygamy, female circumcision, and sexual education in African countries. </div><div><br /></div><div>And to close out there were performances by Boston-based artist Magadelena Campos-Pons and another artist Dineo from South Africa, who caused some confusion for some of the viewers because she didn't originally come out. However, the presenter did give us a disclaimer that the performance would begin in one place and end down stairs. I guess we weren't listening. On another note, it was a pleasure to speak with the exhibition curator Barabara Thompson, who has now moved on to Stanford University. She has become a truly helpful, and insightful friend since I've met her. It was great to be there to celebrate her hard work, and see how deep being a black woman can be. </div><div><br /></div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-69975362754848016042008-10-01T04:08:00.000-07:002008-10-12T17:39:01.837-07:00Colorism and then some<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP59WdxRUdRwFDfZN25Coc5b_go9InfgzboVP5qDRWZESD5lW3mNmsKFoCpBwtdamYfKm7s6b1ZP_HZGjlB3VqGybnpB5mrUuWt5OlcXXKrWQ4-BpaF_K-pIQCwp0sUKD92ErlQcpowIQl/s1600-h/IMG_1150.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP59WdxRUdRwFDfZN25Coc5b_go9InfgzboVP5qDRWZESD5lW3mNmsKFoCpBwtdamYfKm7s6b1ZP_HZGjlB3VqGybnpB5mrUuWt5OlcXXKrWQ4-BpaF_K-pIQCwp0sUKD92ErlQcpowIQl/s400/IMG_1150.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252141002429137810" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQy09fun7Be064Itm57-1ItJWcsvoJIFwZvcuWao4Y0mscSszMDrn81u8ok6ImG0HZPQp_I0zB6rXTTUmwB1QNunhOv8drhACTov7pxw_cUstiRuPyd07Px1IRc5AmQ81TmHF2JDDnCNHz/s1600-h/IMG_1151.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQy09fun7Be064Itm57-1ItJWcsvoJIFwZvcuWao4Y0mscSszMDrn81u8ok6ImG0HZPQp_I0zB6rXTTUmwB1QNunhOv8drhACTov7pxw_cUstiRuPyd07Px1IRc5AmQ81TmHF2JDDnCNHz/s400/IMG_1151.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252141008825472114" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">This has been a challenging and great time all at once. I'm really enjoying the ability to dig into research because I feel that it is giving me additional ideas for what I'm doing. Right now I'm reading a book called </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Cane River </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">by Lalita Tademy</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">,</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> that is about "old Louisiana" and the relationship between the French whites(Creole), the gens de couleur libres( the free people of color), and blacks slaves there. Believe it or not but this book was on Oprah's Book Club list! I've been really enjoying it because it gives a very vivid account of the challenges of slave living. In fact this is probably the first book that I've read that details slave life. This is a sad thing I know but it's true. I think sometimes black people feel it's enough to feel the physical pains of slavery and the persecutions of being black every day. But nevertheless, I've been enjoying it because it helps to give more of a picture of how these hardships that you heard from your grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles played out in this story. What is interesting about Lalita Tademy is that this is actually the story of her family, and how they came to be what they are today. It's heartbreaking and interesting all at the same time, but I'm not quite finished!! I am probably like half done with it. There are many situations that occur in this story that relate heavily with my topic of colorism. Often there were some of her characters that exhibit the behavior, that I've always been told about in the black community. The uppity black folk. In my life people have attempted to put that label on me for whatever reason. I don't understand. Anywho, the main characters are black house slaves who are privileged to live in less harsh conditions than the other field hands. I've been told this story many times growing up about the phenomenon of the "House slaves" and "Field slaves" and how this created division in the black community even then. Particularly, this story shows how some slaves tried to use certain advantages as power because of their closer connections with their masters, in some cases their lighter skin. One of the mulatto children in the story was even instructed to never be in the sun, because she was going to be the one who brought their family out into a better situation. They even told her and each other that she was "better than anyone else". This is quite alarming to me, because it was like all of the stereotypes of the light-skinned slave put into one. But all the less, I'm enjoying the story. It's our history.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></span></span></span></a><div><div>As far as my work, I am really enjoying all the exploring I've been doing. It's somewhat scary yet good at the same time. My mentor Ceci, has been really encouraging the investigating in my work as it's becoming more rich. Right now, I'm at a point of looking at how all of my mediums can work together. It will be interes</div><div>ting to see how</div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtMUCbtweEly1EZTndqWl25e9oOX1qVZ08gpWU0hQ-sS26ZFErfK-FCFwzMD-Bp7lV0SnpKBJMIYxX_ZS_jD79P6LFmQHTB1YQm2Na6wRChrltOZ2IlPMvNxzZ93-sKlV4WKN47OloIEg0/s400/IMG_1152.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252141009152891234" /><div> that happens. These images are examples of me looking </div><div>at arrangement and surfaces that can create meaning. In the top image I started to work with flesh tones and it's arrangement, playing with the idea of hierachies of skin tone( which is colorism). My investigation of d</div><div>ifferent arrangements were used to question the idea of hierachy in that sense. </div><div><br /></div><div>The second image is an arrangement of some of the images that I took from the piece that I brought to the last residency, and I arranged</div><div> it with text that associates with the flesh tones. Oscar had pointed out a similar connection </div><div>at the residency. I plan to do more studies like this with the other spectrums of the colorism system: yellow and red.</div><div><br /></div><div>The third image is an experiment with painting on tracing paper. I started painting </div><div>with flesh tone colors, and had the idea of arranging these papers in order from light to dark to illustrate the typical hierachies of skin tone. It is often thought that in terms of opportunities whether it be career, economical, or socially </div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JagVGzhOMvyT06Z2zXXrdSIbo9SbQ6fh9EnT6fNOjABwhYi5jhenk8c4WavxEJr7gcPyZXwr_rNCoMukQ-bmMhP6CvSVAkX16UWglfRLK52UFNObvgLpEoMnIpZc6YJ5Jo9UEex8EKjX/s400/Black-History-Lesson.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256391762342476818" /><div>lighter skin is considered to come before others of darker skin tone, as was proved in <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Race, Gender, and the Politics of Skin Tone </span>by Margaret Hunter. So this was an more abstract exploration of this idea. </div><div><br /></div><div>The fourth image was one that I've contemplated for quite a while, as I began to study the history of colorism. In that study I learned about the various ways that class and priviledge is determined or identified. For example, here I'm investigating the creation priviledged groups such as the Blue Vein Society and procedures like the brown paper bag test. The three images look at the visibility and color of veins which have functioned to determine class in the history of black "high" society, as well as the brown paper bag. Using these two tools together in one composition, I attempted to question the empasis on judgement and comparision in our community. To me it's so crazy that things like the presence of visible blue veins and being lighter than a brown paper bag were used to judge class, but it shows how desperate people have gotten. After much of my study, it seems that colori-</div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgOeiFdNQcwE15tcl6G24AN8uKcRbQ_OubcEjJQUWgZ4rsmUh1CAO85Pgl2O9uPp6n4JEEwqqRFSRlP-piGHmlGDD-cQYPPUZSRtgT_Arvtl916_6jvW5Ak84SDmI2esmsiBKnFdtf5_Y/s400/Shades.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256398991648530962" />sm has more to do with the oppression from whites than anything else. The psychological damage of slavery and how it affected the way people of African decent began to think of themselves because of their physical and verbal abuse. Colorism during the time of slavery had more to do with survival in the African American community than anything else. It became evident to some that the more connected they were to the white culture the more free or powerful you could become. Meaning you were able to have more opportunities for freedom or to stay connected to your family, which were aspects of life that the typical slave did not have. In <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Cane River,</span> the house slaves had a better opportunity to stay together because some of them spoke French like their masters because they grew up in the house. If they had mulatto children they were able to negotiate better living arrangements for their families, in addition to opportunities for education and a higher standard of living.</div><div><div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAfqkrX5jPOB0Z-iKTuB_jTra9el0qxMm6TpbGZ4-XM4EH7e79djuNBymx2QX9-6sJcPS6iVuDjPgfSIf5DKS6NG6y3yLy6Emq3SXkaaGFQXyWJ8VzKH2PbFMQqVf6suxhBuRVNkqIS6lc/s400/prettyblackgirl.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256391766344436210" /></div><div>What this has done to the black community as a whole as produced much low self-esteem and bitterness because of the "advantages" of lighter skin. Now in this day in age there are many who compare themselves because of their skin. This brings us onto the last images here. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've used these to images in my colorism spread because I felt they were the best illustrations of the extreme ideas of this issue. The first image compares the same person in three different skin tones. Here I'm looking at how skin tones are compared, particularly in inner turmoil of one who struggles with the notion "if I was lighter" or "if I was darker." As silly as that sounds there are people who actually feel that way, and this shouldn't be taken lightly. When I was younger I used to think if I was a little darker my black friends wouldn't be so skeptical of me. I wouldn't have to deal with the "light-skin girl is a gold-digger" or "light-skin thinks their better" perception. I saw the way some of my friends who were around the same color interacted with each other. I've noticed that many of them have close relationships with them today. Disagreements between them didn't have the same outcome that my disagreements had. For me I had one strike and I was out. My judgement was much more harsh. My friends who are similar skin tone or lighter ,ironically, I still have associations with regardless of disagreements. This has been a interesting phenomenon to me. The exception of that for me have been friends of mine that I was able to reconcile through Christ, which means that through Christ each party found it within ourselves to forgive and move forward. Those friendships I'm thankful for. It seems to me that in Christ, is where people are truly able to come to grips with these types of issues as it should be. </div><div><div><br /></div></div></div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-52194080853853647622008-09-20T16:16:00.000-07:002008-09-20T17:32:14.077-07:00My reflections from research<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUKHCp1Qx_hq23_qMHMH8sfgrA_nRv_9QYqt-tnTolc-3f6Y-Mm1jPbrPNIhBb3ddaYupWHhueCBPSESSh6EANZruiFJQ9y3VMi1mg1PBJz6NUpa8ZEmW3m0kXngVTvK0Zn6IWZj1sLXFr/s1600-h/Colorism_People.spread.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUKHCp1Qx_hq23_qMHMH8sfgrA_nRv_9QYqt-tnTolc-3f6Y-Mm1jPbrPNIhBb3ddaYupWHhueCBPSESSh6EANZruiFJQ9y3VMi1mg1PBJz6NUpa8ZEmW3m0kXngVTvK0Zn6IWZj1sLXFr/s400/Colorism_People.spread.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248246544790221218" /></a>I've been working on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Colorism</span> spread that I brought to the last residency. I've thought a lot about Adam <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">McEwen's</span> comments as well as John Kramer's about making it look more like a magazine spread. So here you have it. It was really great to pull this piece together. I used the same stories that I received from the previous version that I designed. As you might notice, I also worked on some images that I manipulated to display alterations in skin tone. I enjoyed doing this piece <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">a lot</span>, however I know that the next step will be to beyond the stories that I've received. I believe in this series I'll begin to look at various different ways I can comment on issues of "blackness" and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">colorism</span> in other types of spreads that I've seen in other magazines as well. Aside from this piece I've been working on some other work that is commenting on some of my reading about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">colorism</span> and the black upper class. This has been a topic of great interest to me, because <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">colorism</span> in general has to do with class. So it's interesting to look at why people think this or that way about skin color because they think they will <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">jeopardize</span> their position in society. So far I've read three books that were very good. "Our Kind of people" by Lawrence Graham which gives a detailed account about the inside world of America's Black Upper Class. It was very interesting as I found there were many parallels in the lives that he described to my own. I've never considered myself to be apart or resemble anything related to being "black elite," but it was interesting to see him outline some of my own activities and accomplishments, such as being a Delta <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">debutant</span>, invited to participate in Jack and Jill, and going to certain churches. All of these things were eye opening for me and helped me to see certain things that I hadn't noticed before. Yet, it was amazing that even then I had no true interest in participating in some of these things better yet not having any idea of what they represented in culture. Many were things I felt were just apart of my growing up process or tradition. I wonder if I had known them if I would have thought differently. As I look at the stories that I complied for this piece I'm reminded that some of them may consider themselves to be outside of the black elite. I wonder how the responses to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">colorism</span> would be to people who are <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">privileged</span>?My previous studio mentor, Jane <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Marshing</span>, had suggested that I ask white people about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">colorism</span> and see what type of response I'd get. I could imagine that it would be a lot like the white people who attended the screening of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Black Women On: The Light Dark <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Thang</span></span> at the Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, NH, and there was much disbelief and confusion as to why such a system would exist. For some reason there is a denial of what years of negative images illustrating black life could have a emotional psychological effect on a race of people. I feel the reason why <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">colorism</span> is so prominent is because black people haven't been <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">justifiably</span> been able to voice their pain ENOUGH about slavery AND all of the other demeaning acts against our culture. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Colorism</span> in essence is the residue of this unfinished injustice and the identity crisis it left upon so many people. Imagine if one message, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Black is ugly, disgraceful, and represents savagery</span>, was hammered in your head for over 400 years! This would do a whole lot of damage to people. I think what many people didn't expect is how this damage has passed down <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">constantly</span> over generations of people. One thing I discovered through the stories that I compiled is that these mindsets are often passed down by ourselves. Grandparents, parents, family, friends, are reproducing and reintroducing these ideas in very subtle yet hurtful ways. I know that it's not self-<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">consciously</span> but it's the pain that is being carried. I see it like this: I someone is wounded it doesn't matter how much they want to be healed they are going to squirm when that wound is touched. And what seems to be prominent is the squirming going on in the black community, it is evident that <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">even though</span> slavery is long gone people are still suffering, still bitter, and still self-hating. What will it take to put this all to rest? I'm not sure. But, for me working on these pieces puts me steps closer to understand my own struggle and why I was treated the way I was by my own people. I looked at the book <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Blacker the Berry, </span>which was a book I truly enjoyed reading. I feel like I hadn't read this style of book in quite a long time, so it was refreshing. But it appeared to be such a true account of some of the personal inner thoughts that go on in many peoples heads in terms of skin tone. The sad part was to hear the hurtful things that was said about the main character, Emma Lou, who escaped the ridicule of her family to only constantly find more pain everywhere else. The most intriguing read was Margaret Hunter's <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Race, Gender, and the Politics of Skin Ton</span>e which was an extensive study that proved that lighter skin did in fact grant priviledge in the African American community. The most alarming point that she outlined was that the suffering of darker-skinned African American women was in fact greater than those suffered by lighter-skinned African American women. She came to this conclusion from data taken from National Survey of Black Americans, and individual interviews from black women of various different skin tones. She found that not only do darker-skinned African American women suffer from ridicule within their race, they lose out on a significant increase in income, and marriage opportunities. This caused me to look at my own accomplishments and I wonder how things would have been if I were shades darker. Although I've seen many women of darker skin tone who have accomplish many outstanding achievements, I'm not sure if the ratio or percentage is equal. So as you can see there has been much research going on as was suggested at the last residency, and I do feel it's been very helpful. My main hope is that all of this knowledge will produce results.Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312503255448001984.post-30787970925491485912008-08-23T19:20:00.000-07:002008-08-23T19:41:32.846-07:00New stuff<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCcX5EQMOpl6hH4fhY5LbyUZGh0unnvoiPnoKWkLbC41HgAXwON-E1QOF_CAdwwnjso9BFwJJXS_oNNIdqZ02_uuASaqX5cFlrlydALxXiT-x8oHG7Gvspfj-HCkjGsViZJob6TqmPchi/s1600-h/drawing.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCcX5EQMOpl6hH4fhY5LbyUZGh0unnvoiPnoKWkLbC41HgAXwON-E1QOF_CAdwwnjso9BFwJJXS_oNNIdqZ02_uuASaqX5cFlrlydALxXiT-x8oHG7Gvspfj-HCkjGsViZJob6TqmPchi/s320/drawing.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237907004152512514" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuEphYfi6CtnR4Zn61tLWqjOMXKJ8nCDyV3QLhojoiEkr6KyD_SRFzUze8N_31TE1T4RIXdOu6pWPaG_giJbh1w9GQqlfGTTFeIUFevuPhrKT0WgyDS7c05X5_Fb9H_92Y-3WqAElxdr3s/s1600-h/handonhip.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuEphYfi6CtnR4Zn61tLWqjOMXKJ8nCDyV3QLhojoiEkr6KyD_SRFzUze8N_31TE1T4RIXdOu6pWPaG_giJbh1w9GQqlfGTTFeIUFevuPhrKT0WgyDS7c05X5_Fb9H_92Y-3WqAElxdr3s/s320/handonhip.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237907005173553922" /></a>My life is quite busy right now. I have many things on my plate but they are all very good things.<div>I'm excited about a number of different</div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2E1ny-l8nvyhcE0CRJjKuw7hVZAyVXk_yJ9U14wF-IkFSnQa7NWpDc1m9UmxnwRLxY3YJ5-wcKj3GAMaePgvkLj4U1N3x9UTLwHjX9cB1qwYJ6_P1LcuwuSk0Ri1yvBWYuIvx_sf-mQSr/s320/IMG_0842.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237906998210616626" /><div> opportunities that have opened up that have the potential to make a positive impact on my career. But aside from that I'm still making work as usual, but you'll notice in this post a number of </div><div>different types of work. It's not because I'm going crazy it's just that I'm taking in so much information that there is no "one" way for me to process it all. I felt very confident by a suggestion Stuart Steck made to me about just "trying" things out. Especially because I'm talking about issues within and upon the African American community, all of the research can be very overwhelming. Who would have thought</div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzz5cuvK3uF8IdiKtf12RzFNE_XCHRAtwD1z5kuqv4PIQw7rJakx5JMysS-Q52piGHtPMKp_DcnOOR20c_qKTHOnGXUTpDt_n3exfEDhvf-WF6ms3Vt5BwIim6gEskE35n0aM75YFy9hp5/s320/IMG.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237907011845475346" /><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhXA5htrDKr58623ow6X4_mkp5Hn6ErtIuDPOjfoNJpGOenANP2b16xAzgrFP59ejkq9a1LNEDn7SnGEn9cMnEzpuLMrKJh7b0HutUuAwlWrkqqR55nvc6EKCd-w8o_NWIcD7Je-qADYH_/s320/IMG_0006.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237907013312913090" /> that something that your really interested in would overwhelm you so much? I didn't. But oh well...I figure that the more that I absorb all of this reading and researching the more that I'll get through this seemingly "lack" of information problem. It's not that I don't appreciate research, it's just that I don't think people realize how emotionally draining it can be. Particularly in my case, because I'm researching various issues of "blackness" that's really painful to dig into. Yet, at the same time I'm enjoying every minute of it. It's a very complex relationship. Nevertheless, here are my processed thoughts that may or may not make sense to you but still please give feedback.<div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPn36GF1g4UebT0a7BZqz3xLFXc1aIm43sPGfCZt71G2hlaezTNjGla8Rb8KNqlSIFMvYSdbJF7oPYw92CJUjKiZcKYYUkHToAXKR4masDuPj74zoiTM2stEJhm7q0MARPaYkCLGYZyGtQ/s320/dancingpositions.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237905990538131474" /></div><div><div><br /></div></div>Lauren Cross's Art Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071254375771627532noreply@blogger.com1