Date of Award
5-10-2019
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Art and Design
First Advisor
Pamela Longobardi
Second Advisor
Matthew Sugarman
Third Advisor
Shannon Morris
Fourth Advisor
Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier
Abstract
The Devout Griot, Emotional Keeper evaluates place, tradition, storytelling, and the experiences of African-American women to develop imaginative dialogues and alternative strategies for self-imaging by uprooting social proscriptions and challenging political norms. Within this installation, the paintings, performance, and monumental sculptural figures create an environment of ritual and memorial, depicting amalgamated new gods and mythical figures whose lives have been impacted by systemic inequalities, resulting in counter and
re-imagined narratives that, at times, live within the duality of physical and spiritual worlds. This work also explores the historic and contemporary social concerns of hybrid cultures through the gaze of the African-American female progenitor and multimedia exploration to analyze how composite cultures have often been rendered invisible, their identities denied.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/14391282
Recommended Citation
Gay, Shanequa S., "The Devout Griot, Emotional Keeper.." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2019.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/14391282