During my time at the BURN: Origins & Resistance exhibition curated by Dr. Ellis-Williams, I found that each piece in the exhibit held its own meaning and value. Through these works and different mediums, textures, and colors being used, Dr. Williams conveys the rich history and stories of what it is to be a black woman in society as well as what it is to be a woman. Through the vibrant colors and material being used like the clothes pins symbolizing fire sticks and the “Burn". Viewers experience the culture and beauty of black women as well as the oppression they faced. As I walked around the exhibition, I found that I was drawn to most, if not all of the works as they all told the story of beauty, struggle, family, strength,culture, heritage and even unity. Each work strongly represented the heritage and cultural views in different ways, some through its simplicity like the Weathering Abstract I “Mother,” 2020 and others through interacting with the audience, like the empowering and beautiful Burn Alter. However, all in all the two pieces that I gravitated to the most would have to be the Burn Alter and Black Goddess with Golden Lips.

  

 From my interpretation, I believe, Black goddess emphasizes the beauty and structure of black women through the beauty of their glowing complexion and beautiful dark and rich skin. In contrast, the work also shows how throughout the years society has tried to damage, bruise and break them down. In a live stream Dr. Ellis-Williams, goes on to say “In the beginning, black women were perfect”. The piece is a digital collage on canvas. This work stuck out to me with its clothed background, textured creases, and iron burns. Symbolizing the culture and heritage of colored women through the making of clothes I.e the clothed background. The center point of the piece displays the face of an African American young woman. The woman’s face seems to be distorted with empty spaces on most of the right side of her face. leaving only the view of one eye and a small portion of her face to be seen. From my interpretation, the empty spaces symbolize the exploitation, oppression, and objectification black women endure from society. On the left corner of the piece there is an iron burn that formulates a bright gold tone. The iron burn also formulates an illusion of teeth marks going along the empty spaces. The golden tone and “teeth mark” represents the education, rich knowledge, wisdom and voices of colored women and how even through dark times like the patriarchal views of women and systematic oppression these women still hold on to their faith and voices. I found this quote By Bell Hooks to be quite true, as well as relatable to this piece “Growing up is a system of patriarchy”. Even in today’s society there is still lots of old fashion beliefs about what it is to be a woman and the expectations that come with it. These expectations begin to create a narrative, to try an conform us to societies “ideal” woman, slowly trying to break us down  to believe we are damaged or do not fit societies standards and expectation.

          Another piece I found to be empowering would have to be the Burn Alter. This is an interactive piece that asks participants to do something personal. As you grab a clothes pin i.e., fire stick viewers are asked to think about a thing, place or person that helped them get where they are today, then write the name of the person, place or thing on the fire stick. After it is written participators are then told to lay it on the alter. In a way, the fire

sticks represents giving homage to the people i.e.  Ancestor or people before who over went these obstacles to give the next generation better opportunities and generational wealth. For me the work represent unity and collectivism. Kimberly Drew states in her book This is What I know About Art  " Simply, I want to share my stories with the hope that you may find your own journey and make the change that you want to see in the world", as women we can offer knowledge, wisdom, and better advice through our experience to the next generation of  young women and by doing this it helps the next  generation of women find their barring in a patriarchal society with patriarchal views.

          The message that these pieces convey are not only of beauty, race and gender but they also represent the pain, inequality and obstacles that black women have faced in the past as well as present. These personal narratives not only relate to black women but all women as we still face discrimination in the workplace, at home and in every phase of our lives. As a Latina woman these pieces are especially relatable. When thinking of the burn sticks and a name of someone who made a difference in my life, I would definitely name my Great Grandmother Miriam Roman, who told me stories of the struggles she went through in life. She was born in 1930 and explained how wages for men were always higher even in jobs where she did the same work. She is definitely a strong woman who impacted my life and the decisions I make; I am proud to have come from her. These pieces are definitely activist pieces because they were made to make you aware of and represent the issues that we still face today. These art pieces raise questions like: Are these still issues black women and women still face today? How bad are these issues of injustice and inequality? What can we do to change this narrative? These art pieces represent women of the past, women of the present and fight for change for women of the future. They are there to tell a story and raise awareness of the pain and struggle that women are faced with in life.  

My Selfie

 I drew my selfie in relation to the exhibit, in many ways as a Latina woman i was able to relate to the exhibition. Sometimes it can feel like my voice or opinion  is not being heard because of my gender, age, and race. Other times as females we are looked at as delicate like a "flower". I incorporated the flower  as a symbol of how society categorizes women based off of gender and not by there experiences or what they can contribute to society.