(Click image to enlarge)
DIA V2
2021
11x15
Gouache and Gelly Roll Pen
Rubina Postma: Illustration
Showing posts with label Illustration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Illustration. Show all posts
My Mother Adorned with Braids
(Click images to enlarge)
My Mother Adorned with Braids
2021
11x14
Ink on Paper
For this piece I wanted to find a way to combine my two cultures, Dutch and Black American. My exposure to my Black heritage is heavily influenced by my mother, grandma, and aunties presence in my life. My exposure to my Dutch heritage wasn't as strong in my childhood as I only got to visit that side of my family every 5+ years. Though my parents tried to give me and my sibling connection through souvenirs, décor and artwork throughout our home. Appropriating this piece in this way felt right to me as a way to depict my exposure and connection to these two cultures of mine.
Photo taken at Seattle Art Museum
Self Portrait
Saturday, July 10, 2021
(Click to enlarge image)
Self Portrait
2021
18x24
Graphic Design & Photography Mixed Media Print
My Black Illustrations
Saturday, June 12, 2021
Illustrations & Prose
(2019)
Gouache, Copic Markers, Gelly Roll Pens
“To say something new is first of all to reaffirm the traces of the past that are inscribed in the words we use… In order to say “Black” in a new way, we have to fight off everything else that Black had always meant-all it’s connotations, all its negative and positive figurations…” (Hall, 1989)
I see Black everywhere. It is in the streets, on the playground, on the stage, and among the crowd. I see Black at home, where I receive motherly warmth, and I see it in class, sitting across from me in the lecture hall. I see it addressing me and my classmates during convocation, and I see it preparing my daily Lavender Chai Latte.
Black is pain, tears, perseverance, and sweat. Black is being upon a cargo ship, stacked, packed, and sold as a commodity. Black is standing in line for hours, with no access to food, water, or a bathroom, in an effort to exercise your right to register to vote. Black is risking your life, by walking down the street holding a bag of Skittles and an Arizona. Black is [insert modern example].
“Some say the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice. I say the darker the flesh, the deeper the roots” (Shakur, 1993)
Black is often defined as the lack of color or light, though that black is not my Black. My Black is beautiful. My Black is strong. My Black is fierce, and my Black is intense. It is romantic, passionate, and proud.
A color so united, yet unspecific in hue. Black is as dark as your morning coffee beans, and as light as your sweet afternoon Caramel Macchiato. Black is as luminous as gold, and as alluring as amber. Delicious as Crème, and as Pure as Cacao.
Black is my identity, and my story. It is part of what makes me great. “The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness” (Garvey, 1920)
Black is unforgiving, unapologetic, and undefined. Black is showing out to vote as a “Demographic” for our President. Black is the grace of the finest ballerina representing the American Ballet Theatre. Black is being the inspiration to the little Black eyes with potential yet to be unlocked, serving as a surrogate. Black is knowledge of excellence, pride, and infinite greatness, visible or invisible.
Believing in your Black leads to [∞].
Works Cited
Garvey, M. (Figure). (1920).
Hall, S. (1989). Ethnicity: Identity and Difference. Radical American, 9-20.
Shakur, T. (Artist). (1993). Keep Ya Head Up.
House Fee Awareness Poster
Sunday, February 28, 2021
(Click to enlarge image)
House Fee Awareness Poster
2020
11x17
Silk Screen Print
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