The meaning of identity takes on a very broad concept as its context can be defined in terms of socio-political circumstances. In any ways, culture is also one of the primary reasons that help in shaping identity of a person that makes them unique from different cultures. In terms of visual arts, many artists have tried to preserve their identities through painting, mirroring themselves, providing symbolisms that make their painting stand out from the rest. Especially in a place called museum, making a painting stand-out from the rest can be difficult and depending on the iconography they portray, the subject can either repel or please the audiences. For this reason, the African-American identity in painting has not been truly explored since few researches have been made in their behalf, examining the ‘real’ African American culture in visual arts. Modern artists strive to illustrate their own identity by subjecting themselves as the characters of their painting to illustrate the issues of living in a culture rooted to the perceptions of white skin as beautiful and powerful than the rest.
Artist Ja’Rie Gray was born in 1982 and a native of Los Angeles, California. As an African-American, she holds various awards and received nominations for her realistic portrayals of the life of the colored people. The painting Reflecting Two Artists with Color (see fig. 1) painted in 2015 takes on a deeper meaning than its iconography. The picture illustrates the artist herself, painted in two different versions: one was seated on the left panel, viewing her reflection onto the large mirror in front of her. The image constructed in the mirror was different on the image presented; the mirror obviously reveals the artist real personality and identity; exposing her true color as Black while the image projected outside was altered to a white complexion mainly to show the artist’s desire to gain a lighter complexion. On the right panel, the same image appears although this time, the artist is seen standing and gazing away from the mirror. Unlike in the previous image, this time the artist’s reflection on the mirror reflects her real self without alterations and seen as proud to have African-American identity bestowed on her. The interpretation of this painting is that it the first image on the left details the artist’s struggle for identity. As seen in her opposing images, the light version of herself and the black version of herself explain her hidden frustrations and desire to have lighter complexion since according to her artist statement that as a child she had never good memories of her natural skin color.
“My portraits are a reflection of how I see my skin color. As a child, I was upset, embarrassed, and hated my brown skin tone. My family, the people I love and adore most, is of light skin, and I grew up mad at myself because I’m the dark one. The portraits tell my story: a story of how I imagined, dreamed, and fantasized myself with light skin; and how I overcame seeing my skin and myself as ugly.” (Ja’Rie Gray, Artist Statement).
In other words, the image on the right projects a different version of the artist; an enlightened one. The clear image projected on the mirror symbolizes the artist’s acceptance on what she truly is and her proud identity as a whole. Sometimes, fantasizing offers people escapism wherein they can don other personalities as opposed to their real self, to gain the acceptance of the majority. The iconography of the African-American artists is different to those created by ordinary ‘White’ artists; in their paintings they attempt to portray and empower themselves through paintings this was due to the fact that most of their history were rooted on the bitter grounds of slavery and that African-American artists were often judged based on the White aesthetics of beauty; as Bearden and Henderson once stated, these artist often try to make a name and preserve their identities because it was the sole thing denied to them throughout the centuries and this made them inferior compared to their White compatriots. In addition, the lack of adequate finances that could help these artists explore their talents denies them the privilege of attending art schools. (Cited from Agnello 57).
As a conclusion, the painting done by Gray beautifully reflects the artist’s will that made her overcome her insecurities for not having a whiter skin. It is visually empowering and the colors she used were captivating, the iconography is relaxed and without unnecessary ornamentations placed except for the jug on the table. Her attention to detail is what I love the most and her realistic portrayal of herself as woman sure of her identity and place in the world; a figure that helps other African-Americans to realize their own importance.
WORKS CITED
Agnello, Richard. “Race and Art: Prices for African American Painters and Their Contemporaries.” Journal of Black Studies 41.1 (2010): 56-70. Web. JSTOR.
Gray, Ja’Rie. Artist Statement. n.d. Web. Accessed 27 Apr. 2016.
Gray, Ja’Rie. Reflecting Two Artists with Color. Oil on canvas. 2015. Museum of Latin American Art, Longbeach, California.
