First Impression
At first glance, I like the simplicity and straight-forwardness of this piece. I like the fact that it shows how we try and put women, especially women of color, into a box that we decide upon. The colors are nice, I like that they used muted colors. I think that puts a lot of emphasis on the message of the piece, rather than the appearance. You can tell that there is a message behind the art, that it wasn’t just created for self-expression’s sake. This art has a specific purpose, otherwise, it wouldn’t have the Spanish text at the bottom.
Analysis
Upon closer inspection, the author only uses a kind of toffee brown and several different shades of gray/black, no white. This emphasizes that the woman in the painting is colored, and different, separate from the paintings that use white. And, with all of the space outside of the photo, it really shows how we rarely ever look at the entire person, or the “big picture”. Around her afro, I see little patterns that appear similar to leaves. I think this is to indicate the natural beauty of colored women, and how they should let their natural beauty/state show, just as the trees continue to bloom after every winter. I also think the writing below the box is meant to reflect modern social media, such as Instagram, and the way we confine people to a box and a few words of text. We capture the beauty and essence of a face or a moment, but not the true experience of the place or person. There is so much more to someone than just a pretty face, but often that is all we are reduced to because we cannot fit everything we are into a photo. Unless a photo is taken from far away, or with lots of planning, we are reduced to taking a photo of what is convenient for us to remember. In a selfish way, at that time, the story of the subject matter in the photo doesn’t matter because we are only valuing the benefit we receive (likes/comments/acknowledgment) So, while the subject matter may have all of these details or features that are important to understanding who or what a person is actually looking at/liking, the photographer is reducing it to something abbreviated, something s/he liked; the person in charge is changing the subject matter to fit his/her ideals. Notice how I avoided the Spanish text and what that means? I can say with utmost certainty I did that because it’s inconvenient for me, a white girl who speaks no Spanish past level 1. However, the Spanish portion is important because it shows how this happens across the board. Everyone, individually, places other individuals in boxes, for their own convenience and understanding, regardless of the true nature/humanity behind said boxed individual. Everyone projects their ideals of how someone should be onto others, what’s different is how/if those projections get recognized or stated. Whites imposed their ideals onto minorities for the longest time, this only shows that hasn’t changed much amongst humans with the development of technology. In fact, it is only getting easier to see people as objects/faces rather than real people with experiences and lives.
