In a world with so much prejudice towards people of color, safe spaces are necessary. Patrick Earl Hammie, Stacey Robinson, Blair Ebony Smith, and Nekita Thomas Thomas make commentary on these safe spaces, coined “black spaces,” in their works entitled “Black on Black on Black on Black.” All four artists currently have their work on display in the Krannert Art Museum as part of this year’s faculty art exhibit at the University of Illinois.
On September 24th, an artist talk took place outside of the Link Gallery on the University’s campus. During the talk, the artists were able to express how their artwork reflects their experience as individuals of color, as well as the decision-making and process that went into each piece of art on display. Each artist had a different story about their reason for creating their work, but every one of them concluded by talking about how crucial it is for spaces to exist where students and members of the community who are black have the ability to express themselves to their fullest, without outside judgements.
Patrick Earl Hammie, professor and chair of studio art and self-proclaimed nerd, based his work off of the need for survival and searching for joy. Hammie took inspiration from the manga and comic books he read in his youth by using hatching and crosshatching. These technique are employed by making series of lines in order to give the perception of depth. A group of his drawings and a painting depict movement and joy as a response to music.
Another series of works by Hammie depicts abstracted forms in black ink on large white backgrounds. These works are inspired by the horror genre of movies, as well as actual events such as black lynchings. They show crowds which are celebratory towards these black deaths.
Stacey Robinson, associate professor of graphic design, created works in collaboration with Kamau Grantham. Their working together involved pieces of art being passed back and forth and changed multiple times by each of them. Their body of work focuses on being punished for having audacity to dream for more and makes commentary on the “black quantum future,” a theory proposed by activists and theorists Rasheeda Phillips and Camae Ayewa. Robinson’s work is comprised of large hanging prints of digital collage work.
“I can’t make you like my work, but I damned sure can make you pay attention to my work. You will notice it.”
Stacey Robinson
Blair Ebony Smith, an assistant professor of Art Education and Women’s Studies, centered her work on the music and memories of loved ones in the black spaces she grew up in. Smith’s creative process started with deep listening and remembering. Going home, speaking with her family including her grandmother and auntie, learning about her late father by listening to music from his CD collection.
Her work is comprised of a make-shift music-centered room. In one corner, a record setup displays the work of black musicians. A wall-mounted shelf displays collages of family photos and CDs. In between these, a cassette holder shows tapes which her family listened. In the background, a recording of her and her auntie having a conversation plays, deeply immersing the listener in the sounds of her personal black space.
Nekita Thomas Thomas, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, used home designing as inspiration for her work. The main part of Nekita’s work involves an interactive display of milk crates. Museum-goes are free to pick up and move around the many black milk crates to create whatever they desire. In Nekita’s talk, she explained how important the repurposing of everyday objects was to the black space that her family made up and described how versatile a simple milk crate could be. At times, a milk crate would hold the collection of records her family listened to, and at other times, a collection of crates was used as her mother’s bedframe. A milk crate was a chair or even the make-shift basketball hoop her brothers played with.
When her nephew asked where she’d steal the milk crates she’d use for her exhibit, Nekita exclaimed, “Why does it have to be stolen? In art and design, we have a thing called found objects… Did you know that Picasso and Duchamp used these kind of words? So why when it’s me it’s stolen? I’m a Duchamp, I’m a Picasso!”
Black on Black on Black on Black sends out the vital message that there need to be more black spaces. The artists urged listeners to utilize preexisting spaces and to build the future they want to see. That they can’t remain passive, and to listen to their hearts.
If you’d like more information about the artists on display, visit their website.
Olaf Schwink
Prospectus Reporter
