Formal Analysis of Lady in Blue Beata Drozd’s piece, titled Lady in Blue, shows a figure, split in two, with one half black and one white. It was created in 2014 for the exhibit i found god in myself; the 40th anniversary of Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls. i found god in myself originally debuted at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in Harlem, New York, but is currently at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. The piece, which is quite large, is a collage on canvas, and hangs on a wall; there are two sections of the piece, the top is a vertical rectangle, showing the figures from the hips up, and the bottom is a triangle showing clasped hands, one white and one black. Drozd creates visual contrast to symbolize …show more content…
The right side is almost purely white, with blue and gray shadows; the rest of the body is black, dark brown, and navy. The profile of a white woman obscures the left half of the black face, facing to the right of the piece; her hair is in a large braid and she wears a simple pearl earring. The black woman has long, flowing, bright blue hair, as well as full red lips. The black woman’s body has a rose over it, and the white woman is wearing what looks like a straw bikini; the figure is wrapped in a thick rope from the waist down. The stark contrast between the white and black meet with a definitive line; there is no blending between the two colors, which amplifies the feelings of separation and difference between the two halves of the woman’s …show more content…
The top piece gives a more somber feeling, with the black face staring blankly forward, showing no emotion. The portion of Ntozake Shange’s poem, no more love poems #3, lady in blue, for which the piece was painted, states “we deal wit emotion too much/ so why don’t we go on ahead, & be white then/”. This blank, emotionless stare shows the expectations for black women to be stoic, whereas it is acceptable for white women to display emotion without being labeled as overreacting or crazy. The ropes, tied around the woman’s waist, signify the restrictions this places on black women; at the bottom of the piece, the ropes appear to be loosening slightly, representing women breaking free of these constraints placed on them by
The most emphasized part of this image is the man lying on top of the child and leaning against the bed, part of the body being directly in the center and seems to take up the most space, this is where the eye tends to linger. The negative space is made interesting by including a turned over chair, and rumpled sheets on a bed and other homely objects, which indicates that this is set in a home. The contrast that is shown in this artwork is through the use of value since Daumier used implied light, the brighter and darker areas create a contrast against each other. While this piece is not symmetrically balanced, it is balanced asymmetrically. It is asymmetrically balanced through a man and most of a bed being placed in the center, on the right is a small child, the upper torso of an older looking man, a chair next to him, and the rest of the bed; on the left of the man is most of what seems to be a woman, and other less detailed furniture. There is a sense of repetition through the positive shapes of the people lying on the floor, this is also shown through the use of line that creates the entire lithograph. This provides a sense of cohesiveness and unity throughout the
Imagery is used in thus poem to help the reader unsderstand exactly what hte Century Quilt looks like, and to know more about the speakers family. The first use of imagery can be seen on line 15-17 when the speakers says’ six van Dyke brown squares, two white ones, and one sqaure the yellow brown of Mama’s cheeks.”(15-17) This quote explains exactly how the Century Quilt looks and how specifally the speaker describes the Century Quilt shows how important it is to her. Within this quote it can also be reasonably inferred that this quilt is hand made. When the poem says “the yellow brown of Mama’s cheeks” it helps to show how this
Equality (1999) is a mixed media assemblage. Equality shows Aunt Jemima as the media had portrayed the African American woman with the word equality. Saar is showing that even the so-called Aunt Jemima needs equality. Equality is supposed to be for everyone and this piece illustrates that great truth. Pour Vous Madame (1999) is a mixed media assemblage. The title of this piece is French for “For you ma’am.” This work shows two servants and one is handing grenades to the other. This artwork is a direct satire of the age of slavery in American. The piece is symbolizing empowerment to all African American people. Grandma’s house (1972) pays homage to Saar’s grandmother. Saar spent summers with her grandmother when she was young and it was there that she found a lot inspiration for her art work. Keep for Old Memoirs (1976) is a mixed media assemblage. Saar was famous for making collages from things that she had found. She would collect things that she found at in her grandmother’s yard when she was young and make gifts for her family. The joy that she got from doing this carried over to many of her artistic pieces such as this one. Eye of the Beholder (1994) is a mixed media artwork. This piece is visual form of the old adage “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Historically, African American people were not considered beautiful or handsome and this dates back to early European monarchies. Europeans thought that pale skin and light hair was the only real form of beauty. Saar is challenging this ancient and misguided belief about beauty. Long Memory (1994) is a mixed media work. This piece demonstrates that African Americans have had a very long and rough past that included slavery and prejudice. Unfortunately, a lot of prejudice still exists in today’s society. The hand in this
The symbol that is most important is the description of the wallpaper in the couple’s mansion. Based on the narrator’s senses, the wallpaper in the house symbolizes something that tend to bother her directly. That could either be the fact that she feel that her husband is avoiding her and feels like since he is a physician everything he is saying is right or she is really suffering a disorder and trying to finds ways to seek help. Accordingly, the wallpaper develops its symbolism throughout the story. At first it seems merely unpleasant: it is ripped, soiled, and an “unclean yellow.” The worst part is the ostensibly formless pattern, which fascinates the narrator as she attempts to figure out how it is organized. After staring at the paper for hours, she sees a ghostly sub-pattern behind the main pattern, visible only in certain light. The sub-pattern comes into focus as a desperate woman, constantly crawling and stooping, looking for an escape from behind the main pattern, which has come to resemble the bars of a cage. The narrator sees this cage as festooned with the heads of many women, all of whom were strangled as they tried to escape. The wallpaper can also symbolize the structure of a family, medicine, and tradition in which the narrator finds herself trapped in. Towards the end of the story, the narrator is
This displays the most basic emotion and enables the viewer to purely focus on their own feeling towards the image without the distraction of color. The black and white usage also gives the picture even more emotion. Black and white in this photo can represent life and death, young and old as of not knowing if the girl’s implied illness will take her life at a young age, or even knowledge or naïve behavior as if new information has just been given to the couple causing emotion. The direct attention of the eye is drawn to the black and white color followed closely by other aiding strategies.
The background of the painting is dark with hues of browns and reds. Light enters the painting from the left and can be seen on the tiled floor. The lighting helps to create the diagonal composition as it moves across the lower half of the painting. The contrast of light also creates space between the man and the woman fainting; symbolizing a disconnect between the two figures. The use of space is also interesting, Ahsauerus is alone and is enclosed in a corner, while Esther is being held by two other woman who are physically very close to her, not allowing any space between their clothes, suggesting a nurturing characteristic that is often stereotyped among
Another compositional point I wish to make is that the painting feels somewhat unbalanced. Although the lights and darks work very well together with balanced contrast, I find the left side to be too heavy for the right. With the entire bodies of two girls, plus half of another, in addition to the very tall vase does not measure out against the smaller girl sitting on the floor and half of a girl in the back. What’s more is that none of the girls comes close to sitting near the right side, leaving the left side very weighty.
At first glance one might see a tall, slim, beautiful young brunette woman with divine assets both atop and bottom. This young woman is dressed in an elegant yet lustful black backless dress with an extending split going up her thighs and a low cut top revealing her breasts. She stands tall in a pair of fancy high-heeled shoes covered in shinny gems. Her impenetrable hair sparkles and her caramel like skin illuminates in the low-lit room. The makeup that covers her face consists of black eye shadow, flesh stained lipstick and blood red nail polish on her fingernails. In her left hand lies a martini shaker of which she holds over the filled martini glass of a gentleman perched in a unique shaped chair. The woman’s right leg gently rubs against the gentleman’s kneecap. Her piecing eyes glare in a look of desire directly at this mysterious man. This man seems to be dressed in a lavish suit with tuxedo dress shoes. In the bottom left corner of the portrait lies a baby blue bottle of Skyy Vodka on top of an egg white tabletop ...
This splendid representation of two people is curious and uncertain. On the left is Ritta Redd, who sits tentatively behind the more predominant Jackie Curtis. Redd's blondie twists and also toned shirt work to casing his honest boyish face. One unmistakable hand lays delicately on the right knee. Turning out from the base of worn pants are Redd's timidly situated feet. While the left foot gracelessly pigeon-toes internal, the left is pushed in and back by Curtis' forceful leg. The outcome is a cumbersome position that further relates Redd's meekness. On the other hand, Curtis is both intense and solid. Notwithstanding being physically bigger, the body is the middle and center purpose of the work of art. Wig-like red hair is further overstated by thick red lipstick and substantial blue eye shadow. While
The short story “The Veil” by Marjane Satrapi used drawing to describe how she was a ten year old forced to wear a veil and how it changed her view of her surroundings. Using drawing and writing makes readers think and interpret the feeling and the situation that was going on. Satrapi uses dark faces and bright backgrounds for the things that made her insecure, and she uses a black background and a white face to show the happy faces or the positive feelings. In the February 1, 2012, article in Library Journal “Drawing on Reality” by Bonnie Brzozowski, Bonnie wrote, “A black-and-white illustrations are simply, yet capable of portraying great emotion.”(Brzozowski 34) Satrapi was struggling and trying to find reason and meaning in the world that she now came across that forced her to wear a veil and oppressed her with the strict Islamic revolution in the black and white graphic short story. Wearing a veil changed a ten-year-old Satrapi’s perspective on the world.
From the diction and syntax to the metaphors and imagery to the voice and point of view, everything written in “For Colored Girls” is distinctly different from traditional literature. Shange has her signature phonetic spellings - enuf for enough, wd for would, cd for could, waz for was - which places value on the language that people like the ladies in the book use. Shange writes more like how black women would talk in real life, with improper grammar and lots of fragments: “when i discovered archie shepp / doncha know i wore out the magic of juju / heroically resistin being possessed / oooooooooooh the sounds / sneakin in under age to slug’s / to stare ata real ‘artiste’ / & every word outta imamu’s mouth was gospel / & if jesus cdnt play a horn like shepp / waznt no need for colored folks to bear no cross at all”(12-13). The rules which Shange writes with is completely different than traditional, white literature, and the ideas and issues which Shange writes about is completely different from white literature. In the quote above, the lady in the blue is recalling dancing to traditional African music played by African American artists. The realistic diction and free flowing syntax allows the ladies to express a genuine and more compelling voice. Shange is also not shy to use metaphors and imagery as well: “Tubes tables white washed windows | grime from age wiped over once | legs spread | anxious | eyes crawling up on me | eyes rollin in my thighs | metal horses gnawin my womb”. (22) This vivid description of an abortion adds more to the genuineness of the issues that black women face. Instead of having a bland narrator describe something like an abortion regularly, Shange gives the lady in the blue the freedom to describe the abortion with passion and emotion, using a detailed metaphor. The point of view of Shange’s characters are strong enough that
The most focal aspect of this painting is the bride, Maria Miloslavskaya , in the center as all attention is on her. She is having her hair made up, her sister, at her feet on her lap and a circle of spectators awaiting her transformation. Everyone around her is in elaborate, elegant and colorful attire while she is in all white. She has a high value emanating from the center and is amplified by her dress. Her facial expression coupled with her lack of color and rather pale skin is symbolic of her current state. The white represents her virginity she is about to lose, while her demeanor is sulking as if forced into a arranged marriage and her apprehension is visible. The only spot of color, on her...
The first element I was able to notice is the rhythm that it has. The first focal point to catch my attention was the shirt. It is the only part of the portrait where color was used. The color of the shirt then moved my attention to the second focal point, the eyes. The eyes are substantially darker than the rest of the portrait. The color of the shirt contrasts the darkness of the eyes. The darkness of the eyes also leads you to the last focal point, the nose. At first glance the nose just appears to be completely black but upon closer inspection you can see the shape of the nose and all the lines that were used to create it. After closely looking at the nose I the noticed the next element, lines. The entire portrait was made out of lines. Each and every line varied in width, direction, and length. The lines were used in an abstract manner since it was used throughout the entire portrait. The following element I noticed was the form of the portrait. While looking at the face of the portrait I noticed that the cheekbones looked as if they were popping out of the frame. I then noticed how the lines were used to shade the outline of the entire body making it appear to be three-dimensional. The next element that became obvious after further inspection was the balance of the portrait. The symmetry and proportionality of the skull is what gave the portrait balance. The features of the face were proportional to each other and the face was symmetrical on both sides of
This piece is to go against what a typical outsider views an asian women and women in general. The piece is created using sharpie and graphite and it’s to challenge the norm of what a women typically does, which is the expectation to be a housewife and take care of everything to do with the house. In piece, the figure is simply relaxed on the chair, reading her daily newspaper, smoking and the alcohol on the floor is to indicate her freedom and how she does not give a single fuck about anything.
...nting’s black and white colour scheme matches Alex’s white pants and black boots and the spherical light behind him corresponds to the round shape of the woman’s body. Her eyes are small black spots that form a symmetrical pattern with her nipples, and fingernails as if to show she can receive pleasure but can not understand or create it.