“Strength”
“The strong black woman is a complicated cultural myth. On one hand, she is a deeply empowering symbol of endurance and hope. Her unassailable spirit is uplifting. Her courage in the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity emboldens black men and woman when facing their own life challenges. But her perfection, the strong black woman is harmful. Her titanic strength does violence to the spirits of black women when it becomes an imperative to their daily lives.”
-Melissa Harris-Perry, “Sister Citizen”
For the WW7 residency I am proposing to create a piece about the strength of women in communities of color. I am interested in creating a dialogue about how women of color “have to” perceive themselves. These standards and expectations that women of color give themselves can be harmful when they and the people around them do not take into consideration that being “too strong” can leave no space for flaws or fulfillment.
There are two layers to this piece, the stop motion animation component and the mural. I will create a stop motion animation, on a wall, based on the interviews I collect. Visually there will be the “residue” of the animation (faint imprint of the previous frames). The mural is the completed animation. For the final presentation of the piece I will include images of the wall as well as the stop-motion video piece.
The wall I will be using (below) is located at Hunts Point, in The South Bronx. It is a wall annually dedicated to women from the community.
