Artist Statement Whether I was aware of it or not, otherness has been at the center of my consciousness since the beginning of my artistic career. My early ideals of race and beauty were shaped by and linked through paintings of Renaissance artists and photographs in fashion magazines. Those images were mythical, heroic, beautiful, and powerful and embodied a status that was not afforded equally to everyone I knew. Those images influenced the way I viewed myself and other African Americans, which led me to investigate the way our identities have been imagined and shaped by societal interpretations of beauty. Having one’s identity dismantled, marginalized, and regulated to nonhuman demands action. This led me to critically engage image making in art history and pop culture and ultimately grapple with whatever power and authority these images have over the female figure. My art practice takes on social commentary, critiquing perceptions of ideal beauty. Stereotypes and myths are challenged in my work; I create a dialogue between the ideas of inclusion, dignity, consumption, and subjectivity by addressing beauty in the form of the ideal woman, the Venus. By challenging Venus, my work challenges the notion of universal beauty—making room for women of color who are not included in this definition. As you wade through the work, look through the multiple layers, double meanings, and symbols. My process combines found and manipulated images with hand-drawn and painted details to create hybrid figures. These figures often take the form of young girls. I’m interested in the way they symbolize vulnerability but also a naive strength. The girls who populate my work, while subject to societal pressures and projected images, are still unfixed in their identity. Each girl has the character and agency to find her own way amid the complicated narratives of American, African American, and art history.

中文翻译：

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艺术家声明

艺术家声明 无论我是否意识到这一点，自从我的艺术生涯开始以来，他者一直是我意识的中心。我早期的种族和美丽理想是由文艺复兴时期艺术家的画作和时尚杂志上的照片所塑造和联系起来的。这些形象是神话般的、英雄的、美丽的、强大的，体现了我认识的每个人都无法平等地享有的地位。这些图像影响了我看待自己和其他非裔美国人的方式，这促使我调查我们的身份是如何被社会对美的解释所想象和塑造的。一个人的身份被拆除、边缘化并被规范为非人类需要采取行动。这促使我批判性地参与艺术史和流行文化中的图像制作，并最终解决这些图像对女性形象的任何权力和权威。我的艺术实践接受社会评论，批判对理想美的看法。刻板印象和神话在我的工作中受到挑战；我通过以理想女性维纳斯的形式表达美，在包容、尊严、消费和主观性之间建立对话。通过挑战金星，我的作品挑战了普遍美的概念——为不包括在这个定义中的有色人种女性腾出空间。当你涉足这件作品时，仔细看看它的多个层次、双重含义和符号。我的过程将发现和操纵的图像与手绘和绘制的细节相结合，以创建混合图形。这些人物通常以年轻女孩的形式出现。我对它们象征脆弱和天真力量的方式很感兴趣。出现在我作品中的女孩，虽然受到社会压力和投射影像的影响，但她们的身份仍然没有确定。每个女孩都有性格和能动性，可以在美国、非裔美国人和艺术史的复杂叙述中找到自己的道路。