Day 3463: Bisa Butler.

 

"Wilbur": photo, junk mail collage & digital.

 

 

Want music?

Click here for Marvin Gaye, After the Dance,

then click back on this blog tab or here to listen as you browse, or not?

 

 

 

 

2GN2S ...

 

"The Warmth of Other Sons", 2020

Cotton, wool, silk, and velvet applique and quilting 137” x 110”

Meet Bisa Butler!

 

"In my work I am telling the story— The African American side— of this American life. History is the story of men and women but the narrative is controlled by those who hold the pen." My subjects are African Americans from ordinary walks of life who who may have sat for a formal family portrait or may have been documented by a passing photographer."

 "I have a degree from Howard University, a Historically Black University in Washington D.C. I quilt because this was the technique that was taught to me at home. I could sew before I ever painted on a canvas. My mother and grandmother while not quilters sewed garments almost every day. Enslaved people were not given large pieces of fabric and had to make do with the scraps of cloth that were left after clothing wore out. With these bits of cloth African American quilts displayed . My own pieces are reminiscent of this tradition but I use African fabrics from my father’s homeland of Ghana, batiks from Nigeria, and prints from South Africa. My subjects are adorned with and made up of the cloth of our ancestors. If these visages are to be recreated and seen for the first time in a century I want them to have their African ancestry back, I want them to take their rightful place in American history. I want the viewer to see the subjects as I see them."

"Three Kings", 2020

95” x 72” cotton, silk, wool and velvet quilting and applique

Time Magazine Wangari Maathai, 2020

cotton, silk, wool and velvet, quilted and applique

 

Daughter of Dust, 2020

Cotton, silk, wool and velvet quilting and applique 58” x 83”

 

 

Dear Mama, 2018

Cotton, silk, wool and velvet quilting and applique 73” x 53”

The Equestrian, 2019

Cotton, silk, wool and velvet quilting and applique 43” x 68”

 

Les SAPEURS 2018

Cotton, wool, silk chiffon, silk organza applique and quilting 42” x 60”

The Safety Patrol, 2018

Cotton, wool, silk chiffon, silk organza applique and quilting 90” x 82”

Broom Jumpers, 2019

Cotton, silk, wool and velvet quilting and applique 98” x 58”

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, 2019

Cotton, silk, wool and velvet quilting and applique 50” x 129”

The Princess, 2018

46” x 70” cotton, silk, quilting and applique

Jean-Michel Basquiat, 2016

cotton, silk, tulle and leather quilting and applique 35” x 29”

 

To me, the detail, color and pattern of these wonderful images is spectacular. Notice the making of each work, listed below each.

Ms. Butler kindly allowed me to share photos of her exquisite work. I have shared just 13 works, even though I wanted to share more. But, you can see and learn much more at her website, here.  Instagram: bisabutler. e-mail: here.

 

 

 

 

A great 3-minute video, Mbongeni Buthelezi, here.

The materials needed to make art can be expensive, too expensive for some. But one artist in South Africa has found away to combine his artistic passion and his love of recycling. Mbongeni Buthelezi collects plastic bags from the streets around his Johannesburg studio and melts them to create a unique kind of art - he calls it "plastic fantastic".

 

Just because ...

 

 

Spangled Coquette.

 

 

Smiles for Friday ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                               Thanks for coming by today.