The use of dolls in my artwork dates back to the beginning of my professional career. The dolls act as surrogate voices examining issues of race and culture through narrative and stories that I write. I use the dolls the same way that a child would, telling them stories about different issues, people, and of course making up stories about them. I work in mixed media so I am able to incorporate the dolls in a variety of media including photography, written narrative, found boxes, works on paper and canvas.
I am reminded of Mamie and Kenneth Clark’s work with dolls during the Civil Rights era and the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Black children were asked questions that concerned beauty and self-esteem and self-perception. The children chose white dolls as good and black dolls as bad. It is a sad testament to the idea of color and the place that it in our culture, especially in terms of marginalization.
But the notion of skin color extends to all cultures and continues to be a mode of racial classification. In communities throughout the African Diaspora, it can separate members of an immediate family affecting how individuals are treated. It is a strange phenomenon at best.
In the Mary Ellen, Mary Ellen series I challenge this notion by using two identical white dolls—one of which I have “colored” black. Like a child I play with the notion of identity and self-perception in a subtle way. Are we ready to accept a “colorless” society as espoused by Dr. King? I am currently working on a mixed media piece that includes a photograph of two albino boys. This work further examines and challenges the notion of skin color but on a spiritual level.
The Mary Ellen, Mary Ellen Series
They are identical. Mary Ellen in pink is white and Mary Ellen in blue is black. Miss Mary Ellen blue is from Savannah and Miss Mary Ellen pink is from New Orleans. They two meet in Atlanta and become great friends. Their story is unique because they look so much alike.
The two little boys below are brothers. It is indeed rare to have two albino children in the family. Their mother speaks of the annoying questions from people who saw her with the children when they were babies. Many questioned whether she was their mother. It is very much like the situation of Sandra Liang, a brown woman from South Africa who had white parents.
