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Full-Text Articles in Art and Design

Painting While Black: Exploring Racial Identity Through Iconography, Blake Morton Jan 2021

Painting While Black: Exploring Racial Identity Through Iconography, Blake Morton

CMC Senior Theses

An exploration grounded in the works of visionary artists within the contemporary Post-Black era. Artists such as Kara Walker, Kerry James Marshall, and Glenn Ligon whose works resonate with the fears, anxieties, and intentions that I wrestled with. I engaged with the iconography and historical background of the contemporary Post-Black era. A dive into the historical, philosophical and artistic implications behind making art about race and racism as a Black artist. Ultimately, through the aid of artists from the Post-Black era, I created a three-part response to the initial question: “Why don’t you make art about race?”


Painting While Black: Exploring Racial Identity Through Iconography, Blake Morton, Blake Morton Jan 2021

Painting While Black: Exploring Racial Identity Through Iconography, Blake Morton, Blake Morton

CMC Senior Theses

I constantly experience external pressure to make identity-related art work in response to the ongoing racial-reckoning occurring in the United States.

Initially, I was concerned with the pitfalls of creating identity-art. One of which being pigeon-held as a Black artist— whose sole function is to share my vulnerable experiences —and be commodified and diluted for superficial consumption. A Black artist whose work would only be valuable when institutions needed to satisfy a diversity quota, a Black History Month initiative or to conduct damage control after being “canceled.”

All of which may very well still happen. I’ve utilized this project to …


Unlocking The Energy Within; A Journey Through Healing And Evolution, Juliana Favela Jan 2021

Unlocking The Energy Within; A Journey Through Healing And Evolution, Juliana Favela

CMC Senior Theses

Through a series of acrylic paintings and watercolors, I set out to document emotions, feelings, and experiences that I’ve had through my personal process of healing. By engaging in meditations for each piece, I was able to decide on a set of motifs, symbols, colors, and messages that I wanted to portray. This paper discusses in more detail how I went about this process and what the significance of each piece is, in addition to my inspiration, my identity and its impacts on the work, as well as what I learned from this process. I argue that as we unravel …