I Don't See in Colour by Mercedes Lewis

from Autonomy, Activism and Art Direction

Digital Resources

ColorI DON’T SEE IN COLOUR.

MERCEDES LEWIS, ARTIST & CREATIVE DIRECTOR, SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN (2014).

Saying “I Don’t See Color” when referring to race is like saying you can’t see the color of my skin. I love the color of my brown skin and I find beauty in color. I wanted this series to reflect that color is beautiful and it should never be ignored but embraced. Mercedes Lewis is known for her abstract works using mixed media. Her art explores African American issues surrounding systematic oppression, slavery, racism, sexuality, identity, and dehumanization. Part of her process involves researching the history about these issues prior to creating each piece. For her series” I Don’t See Color series” it investigates the idea that saying “I Don’t See Color” is supporting a form of oppression and embraces the idea of white supremacy. She is motivated to develop paintings that represent experiences of the modern day African American. Her focus is to create conceptual pieces using texture, composition, patterns, contrast and color to support the issues and ideas that African Americans are facing. Using techniques of masking layers of paint, colors, patterns, paper and mixed media on canvas allows Mercedes to share her ideas and research about black history & culture with the world.

Color: This piece was the first piece created for the “I Don’t See Color” series. Saying the term “I Don’t See Color” when referring to race was something that I felt the need to explain my thoughts from an African American perspective. Saying “I Don’t See Color” is like saying that you can’t see the color of my skin. This piece was represented to express that there is beauty in color. I love the color of my brown skin and I find beauty in color.

I wanted this piece to reflect the idea that color is beautiful and should never be ignored but embraced. Using various layers of color, contrast, texture and mixed media this piece was created to highlight the beauty and sense of unity when recognizing different colors.

Angela: “Angela” was inspired by the activist named Angela Davis. Angela was a leader when it came to fighting systematic oppression and prison abolishment. She sacrificed her time and her life to fight for the freedom of African Americans. This mixed media piece uses the bold and bright patterns and colors inspired by African Art. Using similar techniques and colors I wanted to reflect the emotions behind anger, sadness, happiness, justice and peace. Despite how many obstacles Angela came across in her journey of activism she continued to remain bold and strong in her opinions. Angela was an inspiration for me to create the “I Don’t See Color Series”. Angela always saw color, embraced her own color and fought for people of color all over the world. She is truly a hero.

Motherland: Motherland represented a place that black people all over the world can call home. As an African American some of us will never know our true ancestry because of the history of slavery. Our documents are lost or were thought not to be important enough for some to even record. Despite the unknown history of our families being kidnapped, tortured, and killed we somehow still have started at a disadvantage and continue to exceed in our black excellence daily. I think of black people

ColorI DON’T SEE IN COLOUR.

MERCEDES LEWIS, ARTIST & CREATIVE DIRECTOR, SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN (2014).

as a tribe in this Motherland. Regardless where any black person comes from it’s a part of our culture to genuinely love our tribe. When we truly come together and love each other it’s the strongest bond. The “glue-like” texture in this piece represents that bond and connection between us. The uncontrollable happy moments we share within our tribe is rich. The rich and bright colors, textures and shapes reflect the emotions and culture of love that we have for one another when we truly can come together in the Motherland.

Bloodshed: This is a representation of my ancestry and bloodshed that is endured through slavery. Slavery is not just the past but the present. Black bodies are dying in a system where they have no control. Limited resources of healthy food and water in our black neighborhoods leaving African Americans left with deaths caused by diabetics, cancer, and heart disease. These diseases constantly are still killing our people. With discrimination in the hospitals, education, workplace, it can also cause a toll on the mental health that is killing our people. The criminal justice system is killing our people breaking apart families. There are a lot of factors that causes death in black people in the past and the present. We acknowledge our past but understand that our present doesn’t have to be our future. Losing our people to slavery and systematic oppression is heartbreaking. The blood that has been shed is represented within the monochromatic scheme of this piece. Despite this oppression we still acknowledge that we can make it through. Our strength allows us to change our lives among a time of bloodshed and that what makes us beautiful.

Futuristic: This piece represents the positive outlook on our future when we can carry our beauty, culture and knowledge into future generations through our own self-awareness. I believe that in order for us to continue to grow as a people we must be aware that

we have greatness instilled in us. We must educate ourselves outside the Western Education system for us to understand our greatness as a people. Despite the everyday challenges our culture may face, we still know that there are opportunities for us to become successful in our future. The progress of our people in the present helps set up success of African American people for the future. Knowing this brings an emotional sense of calmness and happiness which I wanted to express in using this color scheme. The gold represents the greatness that is in store for our future. I believe if we continue to spread our history, knowledge and culture we can create a better future for ourselves as a people.

Division: Living in the Trump Era has made racial tensions heighten between black and white people in modern day America. Despite the systematic oppression, discrimination and killing of black bodies we still remain strong during a time where other factors attempt to create a division between people. By using the contrast of colors I wanted them to represent the pain & love that racial tension has caused in our modern day society. Some may say “I Don’t See Color” but I could never really understand how can color be ignored? We see more color in our prisons, color in areas with no clean drinking water, we see color poverty schools, we see color homeless and we see people of color dying every day. Can you see color or are you ignoring it is the real question? This piece was created to represent the racial tension that has been/ is ignored throughout history.