The Long Memory

The Long Memory

This serigraph is printed from a photograph of Saar’s 1994 mixed media assemblage of the same name, part of the Personal Icons series which combines found objects to investigate the mystical and the historical past. Pictured in a reliquary-like grouping of frames, a ceramic hand is placed against a red and black geometric background. Its deep black color is enhanced by the shiny reflection of light upon the curves of its thumb, pointer, and pinky fingers. Above rests an ebony compact mirror adorned with engraved lines and gems in gold, ruby, and blue. Often inspired by the mystical art of Roma palmistry, the hand appears in many of Saar’s works. In conjunction with the stylized eye and painted nails the work brings to mind the commercial marketing of beauty products to African American women which so often celebrates buyers as Nubian queens. Pulling at the threads of the many cultural influences within the African diaspora, the original mixed media work acts to recall the ancient past while its reproduction in print gestures to the perpetual (re)writing of memory.

Betye Saar

1998

Serigraph

David C. Driskell Center Permanent Collection,
Courtesy of Steven Scott Gallery