Abstract
In my thesis I look at internal dichotomy between my self-defined personality and the stereotypical persona imposed onto me. Living as an African American creates a state of duality where we must shift our perceptions of our body and minds throughout daily interactions. My work expresses both views and their constant struggle through use of color, pattern, scale, and spatial proximity to the viewers body. How can I take in hate and analyze it without letting it eat away at my soul? How could my work tackle the complexity of the systemic injustice that began with slavery and continues to affect an entire group of people to the present day? In my work, I answer why my skin became loaded with negativity that people fear it in an instant and feel compelled to treat me horribly. I explore the process of construction through the treads of the cotton empire that grew rapidly with slave labor and spared greed for money, land, and power. I reframe the physicality of the body into a combination of objects and fabric to create my biographical wall pieces. At the core is the hope that the viewer will see the physical person in a new way - as equal, magnificent, beautiful, complex and worthy of more than quick shallow judgments.