A Little Time to Reflect

So we are now fast approaching the finish line to hand in all our work and set up for our degree show…feeling nervous but also excited as it marks the end of my days as a student and the start of entering the real world as an illustrator.

I got off to a fairly slow start in my opinion, as I was unsure exactly what I wanted to do. Brainstorming at the beginning definitely helped to narrow down the enormous theme I wanted to explore intially, about black people in media. By focusing on black women in media, I think it was still a broad topic to research but still able to produce and refine my images.

Upon my research I think I started to respond personally with my work and was able to get the ball rolling. My digital drawings of my ‘marionnettes’ was the big push forward for me. It summarised the opinions I gathered from my research succesfully and I feel the concept was powerful.

Going more ambitious and large-scale with my papercuts I think was also successful. Having a bold message through text, within the outline of a female figures and physical markers associated with a black woman makes it aesthetically interesting, but also shows I am making a statement. Initially I never imagined papercuts to be my final and best way of working, as I thought printing, painting or photography would be heavily involved. Also being advised to try incorporate beauty products and creating papercuts in the shape of them worked as well. I think all these elements combined together solidifies what I am trying to get across…That black women in media have been shaped, appropriated to a particular image of beauty, and this has had a direct psychological effect on black women in society on how they view themselves physically.

I think the least successful part of FMP was the photoshoot. While I did get some decent photos, it was quite tricky. Because the papercuts had become so fiddly it was hard to get the full shadow that I was hoping to get. However it has opened my eyes up to another way of expereimenting with them.

I still feel like I could do more research, and there are other ideas I wanted to try out. But if I did try them all out I think my focus would’ve been muddled and I wouldn’t have produced the work that I have. So overall I’m quite happy with my work, the processes I’ve used. I’ve been challenged. I’ve had to improvise on the spot at times.

22nd May to hand in all the work? No problem (I hope) 🙂

Something a 7 year old said…

On Tuesday I offered to do the school run and pick up my 7-year old nephew from school on Wednesday and take him in the morning on Thursday. I can see why people dread it. lol

Thursday morning as we were making our way on the train, I was still pretty tired despite having a somewhat early night. I was listening to my nephew as he was making his usual conversation about games (SONIC in particular).

Out of the blue he said to me:

“Did you know, white people are more popular than brown people?”

I turned around after letting what he said sink in, and asked him what makes him think that?

He in turn replied:

“Oh,  well it’s just because on TV and adverts and stuff you see more white people and only one or two brown people”

I didn’t really know how to respond to that to be honest…I was a bit stunned, but I also found it a little funny that he, a 7-year old said such a statement to me and it so happens to relate to a topic I’m exploring for FMP.

Gabriel (my nephew) is a lovely and intelligent child, especially for his age. His dad is Dominican (and no not the Dominican Republic). His mum is Irish.

When I arrived home after dropping him home, it made me start to wonder: is he just repeating something another person has said? Or is he truly seeing this and aware of this at his age? Of course, there is truth to what he said, the majority of adverts that air here in the UK, or TV shows readily available have mostly white people or white people in the centre with black people as a minority. I raised these points with my mum and about the under-representation of black people in British mainstream media. While she acknowledged that this had improved “from her day” she said it hadn’t imporved by much. And I think that we are still faced with a lot of representations that rely on stereotypes.

I went further to say that I hope this doesn’t affect Gabriel’s outlook on the world negatively in the future-that just because most of the images of “beauty” we are bombarded with do use white women or fair-skin women with long locks of hair, doesn’t mean that people who don’t fulfill that criteria of beauty are less beautiful or less popular…

This also made me just think about my work again, and all the ways to reinforce the messages I want to portray about black women in media, and also outside it.

…And that was my Thursday morning.

Big papercut number 2

Nothing but papercuts…I began drawing up ideas for a second large full body papercut.

I decided to see what the text would look like if it was formed around the female body rather than having it form the inside itself, however it was decided that it wouldn’t work as well and that having the text around it made it appear as if they were two separate elements, which isn’t what I want.

About 6 hours, a breakfast roll and a really sore index finger later I managed to create a second papercut. I decided to use a body position that appeared more “sexually inviting” to go with this next message.

Again the quote is taken from Bell Hook’s book and reads

How and when will black females assert sexual agency in ways that liberate us from the confines of  colonized desire? Of racist and sexual imagery and practice?

 

I think this question begets more questions. And again I felt a kind of kinship in terms of trying to figure out an answer. I don’t know if this is down to personal experience and feeling, but I think there continues to be a pressure on black women in asserting sexual images and prowess without facing contradictions, criticisms and rejection from a society that creates such images, and the communities that absorb it.

 

 

Big papercut number 1

I wrote down a lot of notes from Bell Hook’s book and tried to interpret them in my own way, and I think it has definitely influenced my opinions. I want the messages in my work to definitely have substance and be direct, so I’m considering my language and the tone behind words that I use.

A few days ago there was an “article” circulating and being shared amongst a few friends on Facebook, so me being the curious person that I am decided to have a look. It was titled “Why the Hell Am I Still Dating Black Women?” So that already had me, i figured it could relate but not sure how.

As I read through, I felt the author had made about 2 or 3 interesting points regarding the mentality and attitudes that SOME black men possess about black women, and also served as a reminder of stereotypes that appear to linger around. The link to the article is here.

http://realnewspaper.wordpress.com/2014/03/06/why-the-hell-am-i-still-dating-black-women

While I already begun to feel this and explore such opinions in my work, I think reading this article helped spur me to actually create a new image. I decided to do a full body papercut on a larger scale, just under A2 size. Again as more paper was cut the more fiddly it was so I was worried that I might cut too deep into the image accidentally.After hours of cutting away I finally managed to finish it. It’s a summary of the negative experiences black women have faced. I was a bit worried about the placement of the text afterwards as my partner tried to read it and got a bit mixed up. The text within the body reads as follows:

I have been criticised by all around me…Abused by White men…Insulted by Black Men…Exploited by White Women…Judged by other Black Women. I am rebuked for asserting sexual freedom despite it being the most dominant and accepted image available. Offended by the weak for asserting my strength.

 

The wording might seem like general sweeping statements, however it isn’t actually intended to say that all white men have done this or all black women have done that and so on. However I don’t think the point would have come across clearly if I had used singular terms because it is probably not the case for every black woman that has lived-past and present-because there have been different accounts of female experience.

I might have to rethink this message or the more likely thing would be to create more papercuts that evoke different messages and take into account different female experiences in order to not sound bias and also show a journey.

 

More drawings…more ideas!

Ok so the self promo unit really kicked things into gear so I could actually get my ideas on paper.

One of the first things I wanted to explore is the notion of the “bright eyed, fair skinned” image of beauty that still seems to dominate the covers of magazines and advertising.
I begun to recall a few things I’d seen over the past year or so on all of my social media such as sterotypical things associated with ‘light-skinned’ black people and ‘dark-skinned’ black people. While they were probably intended on being humorous and not having malicious intent I couldn’t help but wonder if there was real depth to this kind of thinking, and whether there had been real psychological effects on women’s outlook of themselves and others(which in turn could possibly have a physical effect).

By accepting terms such as ‘lighty’, ‘red-bone’ ‘yellow-bone’ to describe us physically, and accepting the ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ stereotypes that come with such terms, I think that contempt has been bred and that these are also responsible for creating divisions within black communities all over the world. Accepting one thing as being more beautiful than the other and criticising those who don’t “fit the grain” breeds insecurites. This is what gives media power.

From this I started to think about Barbie dolls. I remember being a kid and only ever seeing one or 2 black barbie dolls being sold over here in the UK. I searched ‘black barbie dolls’ in google and noticed that they all had a similar look to the white Barbie doll with their hair being long and straight, or curly. I started to question why wasn’t there ones with natural hairstyles: afros, or braids or locs-realistic physical markers that are assoicated with black people…and this again led me to question wheter or not it was trying to portray a particular image of beauty amongst black girls and women.

Amongst doing this search I stumbled upon an article from the Huffington Post, which mentioned a women in America who also felt these things mentioned in the last paragraph, took it upon herself to create a new line customized dolls of different skin shades, with natural haristyles not seen in stores:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/09/natural-girls-united-dolls-hair-makeover_n_4065398.html

I then remembered my “Christie” doll- the first black doll that I ever owned myself. She’s probably stored away in a box in my cellar so I google searched and saw the hair…lol what a mess. Her figure was impossible. And her eyes. I never noticed before, but she had blue/purple eyes. Really? In my mind I genuinely thought…WTAF and chuckled. This then spurred me on to try add text to the above observational painting. I wanted to be direct, but I didn’t want to sound too angry, so I don’t think saying “WHY THE F*** DO I HAVE BLUE EYES FOR” would cut it. I eventually resolved this image and I think it worked well.

From the dolls concept I then started thinking about marionette puppets. I felt the concept was so strong and that I could connect it with the notions of mass media being manipulative; plays with our self-esteem, constantly telling us what products will make us “better” in order to create an image of constructed beauty that doesn’t truly exist. I originally wanted to do my marionettes in black papercuts but I felt I didn’t have enough time in keeping with the self-promo unit. So I drew them digitally to see how it would come out and again I was quite happy with the outcome. I think the papercut versions however will give it more relief, and I can also make them life-sized.

Like the papercuts I did from negotiated study I wanted to have text within the containers of female bodies, so I went a bit crazy and bought as many fashion magazine publications within my means. There really is a lack of publications that feature and represent black women in comparison to white women; both in popular ones such as Vogue and Glamour and even magazines such as Black Beauty are quite hard to find in conventional shops. Anyway I drew the above images using my new Inkling pen and neatened it up using Illustrator and Photoshop. I picked said images to try and coincide with each message:

• “I am judged for going with the status quo”

• “I am judged for going against the status quo”

• “I am now the ideal vision of beauty”

   

The refined versions are on display in the slide show below

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I question whether or not I have been directly or indirectly effected by these factors I’ve researched in one form or another, but I’ve taken quite a personal approach within the images so far, whilst taken into account outside teachings and opinions also. Then again if I didn’t take it personally then I wouldn’t have been affected at all…right? And these images wouldn’t be as powerful without substance and actual feeling toward the issues I’m looking at. I’m hoping I can continue pushing forward with these.

Portfolio tutorial

I had my portfolio tutorial just under 2 weeks ago, so that we can start creating strong portfolios to showcase to clients for illustration work and commissions…

My  current and past art work varies so much it kind of shows me as all over the place…it’s both a pro and con; that I’m able to work in such a variety of styles and enjoy doing so, however it might also suggest that I don’t really know who I want to work for or what type of illustration I want to branch off to…(worrying for clients lol)

So I sat down with Jonny and Pete who basically told me what I’ve written above. They believe I have a strong body of work which is a positive, and suggested that I start anew with my portfolio, putting in images that are a part of FMP and even a few from my negotiated study as they are all theme related. They also suggested that I was more fine art because my strongest pieces of work seem to address issues.

The tutorial helped put things into perspective…I can still work in a variety of ways but it’s made me realise that personal themes and issues seem to be a source of strength in alot of my work

Research….

Ok, I’m not a big reader (unless its comics or manga), but I’ve had to just suck it up and take in as much information as possible. I don’t want to spend too much time on reading texts because it means less time spent on image-making, but the books I’ve chosen to read over the next few weeks will hopefully focus my view and get the creative juices flowing:

• Black Looks: Race and Representation by Bell Hooks
• Racial Disadvantage and Ethnic Diversity in Britain by Andrew Pilkington
• “Am I Black Enough For You?” Popular Culture from the Hood and Beyond
• Style and Status: Selling Beauty to African American Women 1920-75 by Susannah Walker
• Racialised Barriers: The Black Experience in the US and England in the 1980’s by Stephen Small
• Ain’t I a Beauty Queen? Black Women, Beauty and the Politics of Race by Maxine Leeds Craig

I’ve read through most of the chapters of “Black Looks” and the writer has raised quite a lot of interesting views that I feel are somewhat coherent to my dissertation research and my exploration of beauty within the negotiated study project. As a black woman herself Hooks appears to express both opinions and findings on issues black women have faced as well with black people in general in America.While the book was published in 1992, I couldn’t help but feel that many of the issues addressed are still very relevant and prominent today. Here are a few points that stood out for me:

“We most likely see images of ‘black’ people that reinforce ‘white’ supremacy…they may be constructed by white people not divested of racism or black people who  see the world through the lens of white supremacy”

“Images have an ideological intent…imagery determines how other people think about us but also how we think about ourselves…”

“…sexism and racism as systems of domination can shape and determine how we regard one another…”

“…black female identity has been made synonymous with victimization, and speaking against this was against the norm…that different experiences of black womanhood are disregarded and in doing so it has stopped black women progressing together as a unit…”

“Representations of black female bodies in contemporary popular culture rarely subvert or critique images of black female sexuality which were part of the cultural apparatus of 19th century racism and which still shape perceptions today…”

“Bombarded with images representing black female bodies as expendable, black women have either passively absorbed this thinking or vehemently resisted it. Popular culure provides countless examples of black female appropriation and exploitation of “negative stereotypes” to either assert control over the representation or at least reap the benefits of it”

“Black women who suffer from internalised racism are forever terrorized by a standard of beauty they feel they can never truly embody”

She suggested that in fiction of contemporary black women writers

black women break free from boundaries imposed by others, only to practice their newfound “freedom” by setting their own limits/boundaries for themselves…

 

I wondered to myself if the above point was necessarily a bad thing? Then I thought of the contrast of the words ‘limits’ and ‘goals’….

She also suggested after reading Toni Morrison’s ‘Sula’

“black women that live to tell the tale, who have been self-sacrificing, hard-working, are ‘good girls’. Sula’s fate of death is suggestive of there being huge dangers and risks of challenging restrictions and going against the grain”

 

To me, this point suggested that there is no real escape or freedom to be gained by going against a system of domination…and thus results in constant colonised ideals input into us.

Again I’m only scratching the surface still, and there were a lot more points that I made note of (about blondness being the epitome of beauty, to men who see women as a threat to their “maleness”) but so far it appears that while times may have changed slightly in terms of race and representation, psychological effects of a white, supremacist patriarchal society still run deep within the media. I want to find out how deep these effects run with other black women that I know as well…

And So it Begins…

It’s only just hit me how busy I’m going to be these next 4 months so I need to buck up my ideas and get going. Organisation hasnt always been my strong point but this time its needed!

For my final major project I have chosen to address the topic “Black People in Media”. During my negotiated study, although I didn’t delve as deep into the topic as I could have, I realised the majority of the content I observed, and the predominant face of media in the western world is a white woman, with long locks of hair and minimal physical “flaws”. These discoveries made me personally feel that there is a under-representation of people of different ethnicities in certain aspects of media (fashion, adverts, art).

Because this is such a broad topic with potentially deep issues to explore I put all possible thoughts into a mind-map. It actually left me with more questions than answers! And made me realise the vast amount of aspects I could explore and combine into my work…both a daunting yet exciting thought.

“What topics are personal to me?”
Everything. From civil rights to news events. Music to film. Has certainly had an impact on how many people live their lives today. Do I create my own images based on these ready existing forms? What tones should the images have?

“What topic is the most personal to me at this point in time?”
Black women in media. Current representation. How beauty is portrayed and how it is absorbed by black women in society.

In order to make a competent final image, I think I’m going to have to do a lot of reading of texts; historical and current, asking questions , look at other artists that approach similar topics….and just get drawing!

At this point I think my final outcomes will be in the form of posters-created through collaging, printing and text. I’m worried that trying to combine all the themes that I want to could be too much and won’t gel together. But I think it’s something I have to try and test.