Mystic Sky with Self Portrait

Title

Mystic Sky with Self Portrait

Description

Betye Saar states: “The stars, the cards, the mystic vigil may hold the answers. By shifting the point of view an inner spirit is released. Free to create.” Saar places symbols in her mystic sky: the decorative mask represents “hidden identity and magic,” the Eye of Providence stands for “God’s all-seeing eye,” and the palmistry hand, and dice symbolize “fate/fortune.” The purple symbol on the hand is the symbol for Leo, Saar’s astrological sun sign. Whereas Saar’s point of view in LA Sky with Spinning Hearts is that of someone looking up into the expansive sky, Saar depicts herself in Mystic Sky with Self Portrait as a spiritual being among these celestial objects. She looks downward, placing herself not as the observed but the observer.

Creator

Betye Saar

Date

1992

Format

Offset lithograph, collage, construction

Provenance

Collection of Lewis Tanner Moore

Files

Mystic Sky with Self Portrait.jpeg

Citation

Betye Saar, “Mystic Sky with Self Portrait,” Ringgold | Saar: Meeting on the Matrix, accessed December 22, 2024, https://black-printmaking.artinterp.org/items/show/28.