Blue Black

This piece is called “Blue Black”. It’s inspired by black people who are very dark in complexion almost looking ‘blue’. I took it literally by painting her in blue hues. She is reminiscent of the ‘Jim Crow’ era caricatures. The background is a collage of images and quotes that resonated with me. A few quotes are from Claudia Ranke’s book ‘Just Us’ and quotes from black women from an issue of Essence magazine.

Her hair is adorned with cotton (decorations I bought from Michaels that were marked as Xmas decorations 🥴) as it has strong ties to the Black/African American population in America.

This piece is a rework. I found the orginal painting at Savers. I was in awe of the handcrafted detail the frame had. The original painting was built into the canvas so my only option was to paint over it. Please see ‘Honoring Our Roots’ under the ‘Practice"‘ tab for more details on this piece.

Blue Black is 12x16”.