AND new work from Lotus Partlow
Ancestors in the Paint
New work by Lenett Partlow-Myrick
Showing Sept. 2 - Oct. 1, 2023
Hamilton Gallery / 5502 Harford Rd. /Baltimore, MD 21214
Ancestors in the Paint arrive at the confluence of face pareidolia, ancestor veneration, movement, and jazz + blues + R&B music. Nothing in the series is preconceived or sketched out. Each painting begins with a song the artist feels. Rhythms, lyrics, and instrumental arrangements inform color choices: red-brown tones of dried blood for “Mack the Knife”; a psychedelic palette for Sly & the Family Stone’s “Higher.” The music moves through the artist’s body, her hands, and onto the canvas. She waits for weeks, sometimes months, for faces to emerge and then outlines each form with markers, oil, acrylic and metallic paints. She may include other elements, such as glass glitter and mirror pieces to reflect the presence of departed strangers and ancestors yet to be born, from the future. She also invites girlfriend artists to explore the past womb-space at the ancestral crossroads of miscegenation, rape, and enslavement. She never knows what or who will appear to tell a different side of a song’s story, to deepen its hues. She does not control the outcome. She must let go, wait, and see.
Special thanks to Imani Muleyyar for holding the vision, and to Jenny O’Grady & Katie Rickman for bringing your light.