The women are sketched, drawn, photographed, captured or molded onto a manipulated canvas of choice. The artists use clocks, vinyl records, wood, paper and mirrors to create black women in unique but often synonymous elements. Some listen to whispers in black and white, while others shout words in the darkness. They journey on bikes and sit at storefronts. They exhibit beauty, strength, distress, empowerment and creation.
These visual stories comprise Esoteric Lore, an art exhibit that addresses the often one-dimensional and marginalized representation of black women today and throughout history.
“In this exhibit we are saying ‘Hey, [black women] are beautiful — the site of motherhood and creation.’ They are the creators in the literal and artistic sense and we want to celebrate that,” Taryn Lee Crenshaw, the show’s organizer, said.
The show, which is being held at the Auburn Avenue Research Library, aims to be an international traveling exhibition that communicates the true legacy of black women through art and words.
“Black women have historically been degraded and exploited,” Crenshaw said. “Even to just say marginalized is [not enough]. But the purpose of this exhibit is to start seeing ourselves in one another and maybe change how we interact with one another.”
The Esoteric Lore collective is eight black women: Corinne Stevie Francilus, Iman Person, Nikita Gale, Michelyah, Elizah Turner, Faatimah Stevens, Crystal E. Monds and Crenshaw herself.
Monds said the exhibit’s purpose is not meant to simply counterattack the negative portrayal of black women, but to show them in the real time.
“We do want to stray people from what they usually get because we don’t usually see real-life aspects of people of color. So I think it’s important to show that strength and those different aspects of humanity as a whole,” she said.
“Let’s also say that because black women have gone through everything that we’ve been through — that strength speaks to the strength of humanity,” Crenshaw added. “For me that has been the point of evolution for this exhibit.”
In their exploration of black womanhood, the artists hope to honor and celebrate both their ancestry and present-day experiences through dialogue, art and community involvement.
The artists also want to include women of the global community in their movement.
“Eventually we would like involve those in the community in the cities we travel to,” Monds said. “If we go to Belize we want women who live in Belize in the show.”
“This is more than just about art to us. We want people to be touched spiritually and have people’s minds and hearts be transformed,” Crenshaw said. “Even if they don’t know or understand it — the beauty of art makes it so that they will still be affected by it.
