Tschabalala Self stitches together faces from her past, present, and future
Self's work is on view at the Hammer through June 9
Featured in Hammer Projects: Tschabalala Self, Self's project Bodega Run examines the neighborhood convenience store as both a gathering place for community and a microcosm of how current economic and political issues are impacting people’s lives.
"Following her portfolio in Document's S/S 2019 issue, the New York-born-and-bred artist discusses her process, her inspirations, and why she's so drawn to the color red.For Document S/S 2019, Harlem-born and based artist Tschabalala Self contributed a series of faces, carefully stitched together from assorted scraps of fabric layered atop one another, sometimes finished with an array of washes, each one forming its own visual narrative. Writer Sascha Bonét outlined Self’s ability to dismiss the white gaze in her work, allowing black people to have the privilege to just be. Self continues to rise as her practice evolves; she had an exhibition at the Frye Museum in Seattle that ended earlier this spring, has a current show at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles through June 9, and she’s part of a three-person exhibition of work by Studio Museum Artists in Residence at MoMA PS1 that opens June 9. Document caught up with Self to get the story behind the series, which she has been working on for the past year for the MoMA PS1 show. Self revealed where she finds the fabric for her work, why she felt compelled to use the color red, and what’s behind the importance of the gaze in her work.
Ann Binlot—All the works in your portfolio are titled WIP for Work in Progress. What are you creating these pieces for?"— , May 29, 2019
This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Document Journal website.
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