Lonely figures, identifiable and unidentifiable faces; empty eyes, blank expressions; young women and mysterious individuals, their faces almost erased to symbolise a sort of shared identity or, who knows, maybe an attempt at writing them out of history. These enigmatic characters populate the spaces at Tiwani Contemporary, London, for Alicia Henry's first UK solo exhibition, "To Whom It May Concern" (until 3rd July 2021).
For this exhibition the American artist and Professor of Art at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, moved from a wide range of inspirations going from African masks to American minstrel shows, a form of racist entertainment from the 19th century in which while people in blackface performed comic skits and variety acts.
The mixed media figures on the walls of the galleries are conceived more as flat sculptures than as canvases: they are indeed not trapped by frames nor limited by the canvas boundaries, but, standing like paper dolls, they seem to be free to roam the space. In this way Henry breaks away from the Western ideas of portraiture.
This is the main reason why viewers enter the gallery space and first they are confronted by the figures, but then they are involved in what is going on, becoming part of a show enacted by the artworks.
Before making her figures, usually Henry starts drawing in her home studio in Nashville, then she moves onto other materials, using cotton, felt, leather, canvas, wool, linen or plastic, at times staining, dyeing and boiling these materials to make them look more unique.
Henry employs swatches of textiles and leftover fabrics to create the clothes or the hair of her figures. She then adds the final touches with other techniques, such as painting, collage and needlework. The latter is often used to highlight and outline the contours of a figure with thread and yarn.
The evocatively enigmatic, but also spectral figures resulting from these painstakingly long processes hide metaphorical meanings: they invite visitors to step into their world and consider physical pain and psychological trauma, or ponder about contrasting concepts, juxtapositions such as visibility and invisibility; the human figure in isolation and interacting with society, as part of a communal body; identity and loss of identity; family and community.
As most of Henry's figures represent women and girls, her works could also be interpreted as a comment on the female body and the concept of beauty.
Last but not least, Henry's artworks seem to beg visitors to try and make visible that which goes unseen and those voices and existences – in particular black voices and existences – who, obliterated by history, gender and social differences, are too often silenced and go unheard.
Want to discover more about Alicia Henry's works and the main themes behind them? Don't miss the online Zoom conversation scheduled for 30th June (6pm BST, 1pm EST and 10am PST; please register here) that will feature the American artist, Gaëtane Verna, Director and Artistic Director of The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada, and Dr Christine Checinska, Curator of African and African Diaspora Fashion at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Image credits for this post
All images copyright Alicia Henry
Alicia Henry
Untitled, 2019-2020
Mixed media (acrylic, dye, cotton, linen, thread and dye)
250 x 110 cm
Alicia Henry
Untitled, 2019-2020
Mixed media (acrylic, felt, cotton, linen, thread, and dye)
128 x 41 cm
Alicia Henry
Untitled, 2019-2020
Mixed media (acrylic, dye, linen, thread, yarn, dye and cotton)
97 x 40 cm
Alicia Henry
Untitled, 2019-2020
Mixed media (acrylic, dye, linen, thread, yarn, dye and cotton)
91 x 34 cm
Alicia Henry
Untitled, 2017-2020
Mixed media (wool, thread, dye and yarn)
27 x 21 cm
Alicia Henry
Untitled, 2019-2020
Mixed media (acrylic, felt, cotton, linen, paper, thread and yarn)
18 x 13 cm
Alicia Henry
Untitled, 2019-2020
Mixed media (acrylic, felt, cotton, linen, paper, thread and yarn)
18 x 13 cm
Alicia Henry
Untitled, 2019-2020
Mixed media (acrylic, felt, cotton, linen, paper, thread and yarn)
18 x 13 cm
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