Mirror, Mirror; Mulatta Seeking Inner Negress II
Artist: Alison Saar (American, born 1956)
Publisher: Tandem Press
Date: 2015
Dimensions:
Sheet: 38 × 22 3/4 in. (96.5 × 57.8 cm)
Page: 31 × 15 1/2 in. (78.7 × 39.4 cm)
Medium: Woodcut, chine colle
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Winthrop H. Perry Fund
Object number: 2017.7
DescriptionIn 'Mirror, Mirror; Mulatta Seeking Inner Negress II' Saar’s depiction of a female figure gazing at her reflection is used to question the shifting character of identity in a society that primarily defines race in fixed, dualistic terms. The woman’s form is outlined with a thick black contour to distinguish it from her pale skin. Saar depends upon the printmaking technique referred to as chine-collé to give the woman’s white slip dress a delicate appearance. The style of her black facial features, as reflected back in the hand-held mirror, are reminiscent of traditional African woodcarvings and contrast with her pale skin color and white shift. Saar’s use of two different flesh tones to describe the woman’s form relates directly to the term “mulatta” in the work’s title and Saar’s mixed racial heritage.
On view