I Dance When I Paint and the Paint Dances Back: An Introspective

Link to Full Text with Images

Abstract

In this essay, I will introduce myself and my artwork and begin an analysis of how I rework the ideas of material symbolism, stylization, and art-making process as ritual commonly found throughout many of the kingdoms we studied this semester. I will be noting the relevance and history of my namesake and pointing out distinct connections between my most recent bodies of work and Saharan cave paintings, Fulani courtship practices, and fundamental ideas of life and art being interconnected. This essay aims to provide an in-depth analysis of my work, its relevance to the existing pantheon of African-American painters, and its newly discovered connections to traditional African art.

Introduction

My name is Amina. My father named me after Queen Amina of modern-day Zaria, and often recounted the story of her mighty reign with bright eyes many times during my childhood and even now. Queen Amina of the Hausa was a warrior queen renowned for her expansion of the Hausa kingdom and her militaristic prowess. She was born in 1533 to a royal family who planned for her to one day take the throne; but, she showed an affinity for the art of war at a young age and was allowed to hone her physical strength and tactical abilities. She was a gifted and effective military strategist as well as an ambassador for her kingdom, who organized and executed the construction of many protective earthen walls around Hausa dwellings (Loupe 56-58).  While I am not courageous on the battlefield or diplomatically; I am a powerhouse with a paintbrush. I have been an artist for as long as I can remember. While I consider myself a painter; my work takes whatever form feels right at the moment, leading me to become knowledgeable of a wide variety of media. I always felt an intrinsic connection between my process of making artwork and the small bit I knew regarding African spiritualism and the symbolism of material. This class expanded on those introductory concepts, and built up my artistic confidence by legitimizing the way I made and thought about art by giving names to the things I’ve done all my life. It made me feel connected to a larger tradition of Black, specifically African-American, artmaking and spirituality and the reworking of traditions carried into America from Africa via the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

Body

In my work, I collect a series of found papers, yarn scraps, and my own hair with the goal of imbuing my work with the same unique ornamentation that speaks to the spiritual connection inherent between artmaker and the art object, and the power of the two to convey a meaning. This practice is similar to that of the Fulani of West Africa, specifically the nomadic Wodaabe who collect found objects to fashion bodily adornment in an effort to capture the eye of a spectating suitor in an annual courtship ceremony. Individuals aim to be seen as nyirre (sweet, tasty) by prospective suitors who visibly perform gestures of satisfaction or disgust by either licking their lips or by grimacing, respectively (“The Art of the Warrior”). By doing this, individuals’ mere existence acts as a performance at the intersection of time and space. It also highlights the idea of the human body as an archetypal work of art made by a supreme creator that is found in Funali beliefs and within other African cultures. I believe the objects I create hold aesthetic and spiritual purpose, as they bridge my experiences as Black woman in modern times with those of the past. They also act as vessels for emotion and narrative in a way that further humanizes Black artists and the Black experience outside of oppressive and tortuous imagery commonly shown in reference to the Black community. The abstract works pictured are a trio I created this semester entitled Neon Salon. They use material and visual references to Blackness, personal mythology, and the importance of process to analyze and reflect on my experiences as a Black woman

My process of determining my subject manner and how I will convey it is rooted in the symbolism behind stylization commonly found amongst many Indigenous African kingdoms. I am specifically referencing Yoruban ideas about stylization as they relate to the depiction of the physical versus the inner self. This stylization reserves naturalism as a way of depicting and connecting to the physical being; one’s worldly existence. While a more schematized, or anywise stylized interpretation of the human form intends to reference the spiritual inner self and the relationship between the body as the vessel for the soul (Lawal, Art of Ancient Yoruba and Edo Kingdoms).

 When I create my abstract paintings I do so improvisationally, and with tons of movement and layers as I set up an incredibly lively studio space. I create my work in various layers, using a different material approach on each layer. Usually employing paint, collaged paper, chalk, and yarn in spontaneous iterations. This imbues my work with a sense of energy and sensitivity as various areas are treated differently with the effort of making a work that shouts feeling.

 It creates a sense of ritual and transformation commonly seen in Yoruban masquerades where individuals adorn complex bodily decorations and masks with specific features and perform ceremonial acts with the aim of appeasing a deity or conveying a social message. For example, in the masquerade of the Gelede mask a male performer adorns the mask and a baby sash and even pads his body to reference the female form while performing to celebrate the contributions of women in Yoruban culture (Lumen). I think of myself as a medium at times when making work as I feel the work come out of me and I get into a state of meditative flow. After learning how interconnected art is with the way of life in African cultures I realize that my affinity for artmaking is not a coincidence but rather inherent in my being.

The final comparison comes in my mark-making. Prior to starting these paintings, I paint patterns all over newsprint that reference braids, twists, figures, or animalistic patterns. These patterns are then torn up and reconstituted into my works. This emphasis on creating images from memory and with high attention to geometric stylization of form is inspired by the African tradition of depending on cognitive memory for conceptual development and Algerian cave paintings of figures featuring bodily ornamentation (Lawal, African Prehistory). 

While I was classically trained all through high school in the mimetic Western tradition of painting that revolved around critiques and still lives and figure paintings, I have leaned into a mixture of a Western and African approach. I found the Western approach to be a great introduction into how to construct an image and learning the foundations of art really helped build my skills and confidence to create ambitious work. This learning experience led me to branch out into creating work that prioritized the process, rather than the final product. This helped me recover from an intense burn-out after completing a few rigorous figural bodies of work by allowing myself the freedom to paint whatever I wanted, without the pressure of it needing to look convincing or reference reality. It has also left me with an intense challenge, as I find myself extremely unfamiliar with the language of abstraction but yearning to create a work that gives the same narrative and emotion as my figural work. As I venture into my final year of college, I am tentatively excited to continue my artistic development. This essay is an introductory step into my own self-reflection as I begin to find pieces of myself in these African traditions and beliefs.

Conclusion

In this essay, I analyzed and described the connections between my art-making process and African traditions of art-making that connect material processes to the experience of life itself. Through the analysis of my recent trio of paintings entitled Neon Salon, I describe references to Saharan cave paintings and their conceptual underpinnings as well as my own affinity for Algerian cave paintings. I also compare my method of making the Neon Salon paintings to the method of bodily adornment commonly found in the Wodaabe group of the Fulani during the annual Gerewol courtship ritual. Lastly, I reflect on my own body as a medium for creative energy as I discuss African ideas about the body as a vessel for the soul and how my creative practice can be viewed similarly to the masquerades of the Yoruba. All of these ideas are addressed in my own admission of continued artistic and personal development in relation to the ideas discussed here.

Bibliography

B, Charlotte. “Queen Amina of Zaria Nigeria.” Afroculture.net, 10 July 2020, https://afroculture.net/queen-amina-of-zaria-nigeria/.

Hager, Nathalie. “Running Horned Woman, Tassili N'ajjer (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, 2015, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history/ap-art-history/global-prehistory-ap/paleolithic-mesolithic-neolithic/a/running-horned-woman-tassili-najjer. 

 Lawal, Babatunde. Art of Ancient Yoruba and Edo Kingdoms 1 2. 2020, https://virginiacommonwealth.instructure.com/courses/41024/files?preview=4672694. Powerpoint Presentation

Lawal, Babatune. African Prehistory. 2020, https://virginiacommonwealth.instructure.com/courses/41024/files?preview=3997510 Powerpoint Presentation

Loupe, Leleua. “Queens, African, Nzinga of Angola (1581/83–ca. 1663) and Amina of Nigeria (d. 1610).” Women in American History : A Social, Political, and Cultural Encyclopedia and Document Collection: Precolonial North America to the Early Republic, 2017, pp. 56–58.

Lumen. “Sculpture of the Sub-Saharan Civilizations.” Lumen, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/sculpture-of-the-sub-saharan-civilizations/. 

“The Art of the Warrior.” British Museum, The Trustees of the British Museum, 2006, https://africanrockart.britishmuseum.org/thematic/the-art-of-the-warrior/.