‘Somewhere Between Tomorrow and Yesterday’
Oil + Acrylic on 4 pieces of un-stretched Canvas
36 x 48 inches
SOLD
June 2020Somewhere Between Tomorrow and Yesterday -
I started this piece a few weeks into quarantine but prior to the tragic killing of George Floyd. As time went by and as all the awful events that would follow unravelled, I found myself really struggling to finish this piece as I found myself to be in a very different headspace to when I had started. As a young woman of colour I’ve found it especially hard to see how little progress has really been made and to see how heartless and destructive humans can be to one another especially whilst enduring already uncertain times. However, I have found that, historically, it’s often the most brutal of times and struggles that some of the most innovative creativity and art gets birthed, so I decided I wanted this piece to focus on hope but whilst still addressing the uncertainty.
I’ve always wanted to use my art to speak on the strength and beauty of black people. I find too often in art we are represented as weak, vulnerable or suffering, if represented at all. I hope to subvert that imagery, although I do find it extremely important that our history is not just acknowledged but talked about more honestly and openly as well as taught to kids through out the world. Rather than looked at as victims I want my characters to be shown as survivors and to really focus on the beauty that was created through these struggles.
I use a lot of symbolism with this piece; the family representing unity, solidarity and strength. The sun stands for all the people we have lost and the light they now shine upon us, the coloured flags I often use to symbolise hope as they are reference to the Tibetan prayer flags which are flown on auspicious days for different reasons including the removal of obstacles and protection against harm. The two women who are walking on tightropes are to show the duality of the freedom they have being outside however not without the risk of the fall and the fall is symbolising not only the risk of the pandemic but just the everyday risk we as black people have to face in order for us to just be. I chose the title Somewhere Between Tomorrow and Yesterday as I feel although these issues never went away it’s unnerving to see the echoes of what we thought were finally being put behind us brought to light. From the police brutality to the horrific lynchings to the strength and unity shown through the numbers globally of people outraged marching. Could this be the wake up call we needed to begin our journey to a new and brighter tomorrow or are these the echoes of past times, just another start to this endless cycle it feels we’ve tried to fight against for so long?