Simone Leigh’s sumptuous sculptures channel the narrative power of objects: the stories they c
Simone Leigh’s sumptuous sculptures channel the narrative power of objects: the stories they carry in their forms, the meanings inscribed in their surfaces, and the way these can change in the hands of different people. Born to Jamaican parents, Leigh traces diasporic lineages throughout the Caribbean and Africa, exploring networks of knowledge exchange, care, and artisanship. This cowrie shell made from a watermelon cast and encrusted with delicate flowers seems self-explanatory at first glance, yet the literally overlapping references to fertility, femininity, and female power and/in the African-diasporic experience reward further contemplation. The form suggests a woman’s body on multiple registers. Leigh’s craftsmanship is almost absurdly masterful. For me the power of “socially engaged” art lies not in content or message, but rather in its ability to draw you into an aesthetically lubricated, emotionally heightened state in which to consider the array of possible references and inferences put forth. With their mysterious aesthetic beauty, Leigh’s objects do precisely this. They make you think about black women as the vessels of centuries of love, nurturing, hardship, abuse, transcendence, wisdom, culture, and life.Simone Leigh, Yellow Cowrie III, 2012 -- source link
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