The Artist

Why 'that black girl art' ?

I have always been "that black girl" - questioning assumptions about me; taking different paths in education and human rights and art. I remember two of my teachers from third grade referring to me as "that black girl who thinks she knows so much!" I am still "that black girl" - still fighting assumptions, still making art, still marveling at the excellence, heart and grand spirit of black people all over the world.

I have been designing and making quilts for nearly 30 years. Prior to turning to art and art education full time, I worked as a US diplomat in Latin America and a human rights and civil rights lawyer and associate law professor at Syracuse University School of Law. I have a husband of 24 years and two boys aged 22 and 13. Over the last 10 years, my quilts have evolved from traditional geometric patchwork to fabric portraits of people and situations in African Ameriican work and life, as well as political and legal themes. I am currently Communty Artist in Residence at Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida working on quilts and providing outreach demonstrations and workshops to area community groups and schools.

Exhibitions

"On Your Own Time", Everson Museum, Syracuse
1. "Expressions of Freedom", at the International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, Nebraska and the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenessee.
2. "Art Quilts at the Sedgwick", at the Sedgwick Cultural Center, Philadelphia.
3. "Quilts for Change", Cintas Center of Xavier University, Cincinnati.
4. "Images", New Smyrna Beach, Florida

Influences

The Griot in West African and African Diaspora cultures and communities is the person who maintains the history of the people. Music, storytelling, visual guides and the written word all play a part in this responsibilty of maintaining culture and community. Griots are the keepers of the flame, nurturing and passing on our sense of self. The Griot promises to record and preserve our history of resistence to oppression and to document and celebrate the life of our people.

Many times this tradition is passed on informally. My grandmother was a Griot, though she did not use the word. Nana told stories of the brave deeds of our family through slavery, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights movement while she braided my hair. These stories kept me still while she braided and gave me life supporting stories of my family and people through time. Later quilting was opened to me by Nana and other women in our community. Quilting is another method to keep the stories and history alive through retelling in a visual medium that reinforces our oral traditions.

Our African American quilts tell stories. over the centuries, African people have used fiber to tell stories, to maintain family histories and to celebrate feats of courage and daring in the face of enormous obstacles. From the Afaso Flags of Ghana, to the Bible Stories of Harriet Powers, and in Faith Ringgold's autobiographical work, African Americans have met the artistic challenge of rendering narratives in fiber. My story quilts show the influence of Powers, Ringgold, the art of Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden, as well as the petry of Bell Hooks, Paul Lawrence Dunbar and the music of Miles Davis, Tupac and Cheik Lo and many others.