The Birth of Venus

Mixed Media Collage

24"x36"

"The Birth of Venus" is another piece that addresses the unfair standards and idealizations placed on women. Growing up as a Black woman and not seeing my face or culture being represented positively, and then being told that racism doesn't exist anymore or hearing things like "there's a Black Disney princess now" or "Here's the first Black woman to do..." and then realizing that they align with the Eurocentric standards was harmful. To hear things like "I don't see color" in 2020 is disappointing. To see that women that do align with the standard of beauty are objectified and exploited still, is disappointing. There is an unfair disparity of the harmful effects of these placed on Black and Brown women especially and I wanted to show that through the representations/writings in this piece. I wanted this piece to have a Mondrian city-like systematic feel to it with bright obnoxious use of color with the juxtaposition of this black background and writings and symbols that combine to create a conversation about this topic.