Final Project

Inner Beauty 

   My project is based on inner beauty and what it I see as inner beauty to me. The reason why I chose this theme as “inner beauty’’ is because I can relate to this project as well as my other close friends who I can relate to with. Mainly this project is for my best friend who does struggle from her demon's time and time again and I can personally relate to this project as well as showing others that no matter what always let yourself know that you are beautiful male or female. This in a sense is a way to show others that everyone has the same type of problem in a way and even struggles through it differently while also handling it differently wether or not it is good or bad. While I also want my audience to connect to my project to see themselves and look at themselves in the mirror. 

The two most influential people that caused me to think of this project was Frida Kahlo and Ana Mendieta. I learned about Frida the same time I learned about Ana Mendieta which was in my last semester's art class who talked briefly about Frida. My focus was Ana Mendieta I felt as though she had so much power during the time she was known, causing a lot of other female artist to go out of their comfort zone. While both are my favorites Mendieta was the one female artist that caught my attention the most. All her pieces while one of my favorites which was the one, I posted on the blog of the “facial transplant.’’ 

She showed that females do not have to have the norm of what a female should look like while also making art performances that causes many people to question her boldness of talking about the uncomfortable questions and reality checks that females go through. While she also faced her own and having marital problems in her relationship. She and Frida Kahlo showed us as a woman that we have inner beauty and do not need to look the way how we feel while also making it okay for others to express themselves. They gave me aspiration to create this project as way for myself but also basically a message to others that feel this way, feeling alone and only looking at the negative comments and the positive ones. 

Video here:

https://youtu.be/qITyc0lMl2I

Citations 

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/mendieta-ana/ 

https://www.fridakahlo.org

Group 4's Photo Project

Surviving in Social Spaces

Post 3

Post 3 Inspiration 

 For my final project, I will being doing mine on inner beauty and the meaning of what inner beauty is meant to be about. As one of my inspirations is Ana Mendieta. An influential artist best known for her “earth-body” performances, as she called them, Ana Mendieta explored her identity as a female. 

  Ana Mendieta created a way for females to discovered different performances to show the differences of the females body and nature together. Because of this, it made me inspired to be do my project as she relates to my project about inner beauty. She was viewed as out of the range than other females artist while also being inspirations for other female artist. 

 For example, Carolee Schneemann as she later became inspired to become a perfomance artist. She was an American visual experimental artist. While she was also known for her mulit-media work on her body, narrative, and sexuality. As the theme of my project is solely based on the inner beauty and what it really means. She created her body as well to show her art while she performs. For example, a performance she created the art piece called Up To and Including Her Limits (1973-76). Creating it to different areas of it and different spaces in the piece that created her to take this project  

 Mendieta used her body as a way to express the ways of her female body and also being one with earth. She showed me the ways that inner beauty and outer beauty doe int matter. These two artist inspired me to understand the different aspects of what true beauty is and how women are supposed to express ourselves as women and to also discover our inner beauty. 

 

Post 3 Inspiration

While there are countless activists who played significant roles in LGBTQ Movements, I want to shed light and on two women who really stuck out to me. Marsha P Johnson and Laverne Cox are two women who boldly stood up for what they believed in with or without support. I was first introduced to Laverne Cox when she aired on Orange is the Black. I was drawn to her character because of how different she looked and seemed from every other woman in the prison. I was poorly educated about the LGTBQ because it was shamed culturally. But I was also drawn to her character because of her outstanding morals and her self-assurance. She had an aura about her that screamed out “I KNOW WHO I AM!” Laverne knew her rights and stood by them. She protested and fought all throughout the 2 seasons she was on the show. Cox has been outspoken about access to health care for LGBTQ communities and has particularly championed the rights of trans people and people of color. 

Marsha P Johnson was both a drag performer and a vibrant character in the Greenwich Village street life. Marsha advocated tirelessly on behalf of sex workers, prisoners those affected by HIV/AIDS. She is also believed to have been the key figure in the June 1969 Stonewall Uprising. Marsha boldly fought police as they wrongfully raided the gay bar, The Stonewall, on Christopher Street. The next year June 1970 marked the first gay pride. Marsha P. Johnson stood at the center of New York City's gay liberation movement for nearly 25 years. But LGBTQ rights weren't her only cause. She was on the front lines of protests against oppressive policing. She helped found one of the country's first safe spaces for transgender and homeless youth. All while draped in dashing outfits and flower headpieces and armed, people who knew her to say, with a vibrant smile.

These two women are prime examples of the type of support the LGTBQ community needs. People who will fight effortlessly and wholeheartedly. These aren’t people that were highlighted during my childhood but if I knew there were black queer women standing up for what they believed in and for those who didn’t have the courage to, it would’ve changed so much for me. I would’ve been comfortable with myself, and my sexuality. I am grateful I know about these amazing women now to spread the knowledge. 

Marsha was a walking piece of art she Always dressed like how felt on the inside: bright and stunning. These activists didn’t really do art activism, most of the activism was through protesting. They marched, going against “social norms” and fought with powerful words. 

Work Cited

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/lgbtq-pride-activists-advocates-johnson-milk/

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/26/us/marsha-p-johnson-biography/index.html

Feast and Famine

Feast and Famine

A few weeks back I went to Express Newark which is a museum in Newark. Upon going I did no research or had an interest in learning more about what I was about to walk in to. My class toured the Paul Roberson Feast and Famine Gallery. A name that speaks for itself, the gallery is about food; the lack of food and some cases the overindulging of it. We were surrounded by food, fake food, uncooked food, machines that could make food and even saw a visual of someone consuming and spitting out liquids. The two pieces that really caught my attention was Rap on Rice by Dominique Duroseau and Thin by Lauren Greenfield.

            Rap on Rice looked like a table of mixed black and white small things. The theme of racism immediately popped into my mind. At first, I thought, “Is that rice?” then I thought “But where’d they find black rice from”. I was tempted to touch it, so I did. It was rice. As I examined the piece there were pictures all around it about racism. This two-part multi-artist performance aims to spark conversation and engage spectators to identify bias, prejudice, discrimination, and racism. The artists are tasked with separating black and white grains of rice as they discuss issues related to race and ethnicity. During the tour, I was able to actively participate with another classmate. In my head, it was a competition: Who can separate the rice the fastest. Quite honestly, I wanted to win. But then as I listened to the tour guide explain the piece, I began to realize what I was doing: I was segregating the rice. There was nothing different about the rice, they would still; cook the same and essentially have the same end goal: to be eaten.

            The first one got my attention mainly by curiosity then gradually mentally while the next piece caught my attention emotionally. The piece by Lauren Greenfield was about eating disorders. The piece had pictures of women who were struggling with under-eating, overeating, some were bigger and others looked smaller. While doing some research I realized that Thin is a documentary This documentary, directed by Lauren Greenfield, follows four young women dealing with anorexia and bulimia at a strict treatment facility in Florida where they temporarily live. As the camera follows them, Shelly, Polly, Brittany, and Alisa, ranging in age from 15 to 30 years old, have group therapy sessions, weigh-ins, and meals. The women discuss the emotional and psychological issues tied to their body-image problems, as each struggles to fight the urge to lose more weight.

I was drawn to these two pieces because they’re about me. I have struggled with being an overweight black girl for years. Even as a child I never understood why my weight and race would always some hoe hinder me. I would miss out on great opportunities because I was too big for my age group. Or I wouldn’t be qualified for something because I was black. It was hard for me to understand then and it’s still sometimes difficult for me to understand now. Of course, now, society has done a 360 Black women are embraced. Everyone wants a piece of some Melanin. People are looking up to black women and it’s so refreshing.

While being overweight is being praised, growing up culturally it was frowned upon. I was the joke of the family reunions. All my cousins would be 2 sizes smaller than me and I would be the person that everyone wanted to talk to about. I never liked my weight. I still struggle now as a 21 year- old. So every now and again I would overeat as a coping mechanism and then when I went on trips to Guyana, I wouldn’t eat. I would have the smallest plated amongst my cousins who were half my size. I would force myself to lose weight every time I went to Guyana because I knew I was being watched and wanted something to prove.

Work Cited
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MU43f8ElG4
https://paulrobesongalleries.expressnewark.org/event/rap-on-race-with-rice-2/
https://www.expressnewark.org/exhibits/feast-famine/

Final Project

Besem Etta-Ashu

Final Project

December 4, 2019

PHENOMENAL WOMAN

This artwork is meant to empower women of all races, genders, identities, and ethnicities to be proud of who they are and to keep being their phenomenal selves no matter what others might say or think of them. I want women to know that they are Queens. Queens do not lower their standards or expectations of others in order to fit in or be accepted. Never, ever lower your standards of greatness to be accepted and loved by someone who does not even know your middle name or care about your aspirations and dreams. Queens do not need recognition in order to be noticed, Queens are the recognitions others seek to find. Be unapologetically you. Never apologize for walking the way you walk; talking the way you talk; dreaming unbelievable accomplishments; or being the phenomenal Queen that you are. Your presence alone is a threat to others and your success is a wish amongst others. No two shades of color are the same. My dark skin color is not the same as any other black skin color and neither is yours. We all have a uniquely distinct color, heights, weights, shape, etc that can not be found anywhere else in the world. The females portrayed in the drawing are nobody else but YOU. When you look at this picture I want you to see yourself rather than imagine someone else who you think is greater than you. You are a Queen, you are enough, in fact, you are more than enough so do not let the negativity of others tilt that majestical crown off your head. Queens are phenomenal women. You are a phenomenal woman. Phenomenal woman is who you are today, tomorrow and forever. 

For the written portion of my project, I decided to pick Maya Angelou's poem, Phenomenal Woman. This poem is truly the real meaning of women's empowerment. " Now you understand Just why my head's is not bowed. I don't shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing, It ought to make you proud." This is just a short verse from the poem Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou. This verse is really inspiring and powerful because it explains how much power we women have within us. We don't even need words to come out of our mouths in order for our presence to be noticed. When we walk into a room or pass by others, our presence already says more than we ever could say using words.

The way in which I displayed my final project to my audience was by posting a picture of my project on my Instagram as well as writing the message in which I wanted my final project to convey, which is the first paragraph in this post. People who saw my post became inspired by the message and the project began reposting my artwork on their social media platform to continue this chain of women empowerment awareness that I began. People also began commenting on my post what they thought of the artwork and how they felt about it. It was amazing to realize how powerful a picture can be once its message is revealed or understood. 

The amazing thing about my project is I do not need to tell others what I meant by creating this artwork, just by simply looking at the artwork people could already realize the message hidden within the art piece. That is the incredible power that lies within art. Sometimes words are not needed or a necessary tool in order to convey the deeper message in which artists want their audience to understand. Art is what you make of it. In the Feast and Famine gallery, Ms. Anonda Bell who was the curator said that " there's no right or wrong answer to art. Art is what you make it. Everyone sees art differently" and I absolutely agree with her. Some people saw my final project as a really nice drawing and that I have great skills. While others found a deeper meaning to realize that my project is a great way of empowering women to never underestimate the power that lies within them. 

I AM A PHENOMENAL WOMEN AND SO ARE YOU!!

Media Project

Besem Etta-Ashu

Media Project

December 4, 2019

GENDER EQUALITY

The social movement that I will be addressing in my post is Gender Equality. Gender Equality is a very important topic that I am incredibly interested in because I am a black female who is being affected by the wage gap between a male and a female salary. When it comes to gender equality, it is no doubt that the amount of money being distributed amongst genders is not equal, yet each gender is expected to complete the same tasks. For example, male mechanics are paid a median wage of $50,027 while female mechanics are paid only $31,754. There is a difference of over $18,273 between a male mechanic's salary from a female mechanic's salary. Over 63.5% of this occupation are females who are violated off their rights to rightful get paid what they deserved and worked hard for.

The amount of hours completed by each gender is the same yet the salary is not. 

Why do women only earn 94 cents from every dollar a man makes? Why are women expected to work the hours like men but get paid less than men? How would men feel if they get paid the 94 cents while women get paid the entire dollar? These are series of questions that have been a continuous debate for several years regarding the wage gap. Females represent more than half of the world's population so that means more than half of the world's success and potential is accomplished by women or the female gender.

The movement for gender equality began several years ago and this movement is still going on today. This movement first began in the 19th into the 20th century but in the form of women's right to vote. Back then in the 19th century, women did not have much of a right to anything. They were under the control of males and could not do anything without the permission or supervision of male authority. Gradually as the years began to pass, women began creating movements and fighting for their rights to be provided the same opportunities as men. In 1995, Madeleine Albright became the first female secretary of the state and in 2007 Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the House. In order to be given the recognition in which women deserve or the rights they solely fought for, women had to work ten times harder compared to men. Finally, in 2012 the Paycheck Fairness Act was passed. This Act's main purpose was to prevent gender discrimination in the workplace but unfortunately was not accepted as an official Act or law. Although there are still people who are against gender equality mostly the superior males in power, women are constantly fighting every day and proving their worth and what we are capable of doing. For example, women have also begun running for the Presidential position such as Hilary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and several other women. This is an act of gender equality movement because women are not supposed to have power in the White House or even think of running for such high political powers as Presidential powers.

Nobody ever expected a black man to one day become the President of the United States, so one day there surely will be a female president. The process of the United States finally having the first female President is definitely going to take some time just like it took us several years before we had our first black president, President Barack Obama, but the day will soon come for our first female president. One day women will finally be able to receive the entire dollar instead of the 94 cents from a dollar and receive full recognition for the work they have done.

Work Cited:

Kiersz, Andy. “30 Jobs in the US Where Men Still Earn Wildly Higher Wages than Women.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 7 Mar. 2019, www.businessinsider.com/gender-pay-gap-jobs-2019-3.

Burkett, Elinor. “Women's Rights Movement.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 13 Feb. 2019, www.britannica.com/event/womens-movement.

Salam, Maya. “The 6 Women Running for President Have Answers.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 June 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/us/elections/female-candidates-president.html.