Mirror, Mirror; Mulatta Seeking Inner Negress II

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Mirror, Mirror; Mulatta Seeking Inner Negress II

Artist Alison Saar (American, born 1956)

Publisher Tandem Press

Date2015

DimensionsSheet: 38 × 22 3/4 in. (96.5 × 57.8 cm)
Page: 31 × 15 1/2 in. (78.7 × 39.4 cm)

MediumWoodcut, chine colle

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineWinthrop H. Perry Fund

Object number

2017.7

Not on View

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.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Tallman, Susan, Nancy Doll, and Alison Saar, Mirror, Mirror: the Prints of Alison Saar: from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his family foundation , Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, 2019, p. 14, no.26, repr. col. p. 67.