This project is based on the idea of the composite; a material made from two or more different materials that, when combined, are more powerful; than those individual materials by themselves. I’ve spent a large part of Semiotics of a Black Woman researching whom and where I come from; a composite of the beautiful people that came before me and the things that happened to them. These images explain my personal journey and delve into researching my identity, as well as forcing myself and my viewers to “look in the mirror”. Using family archives, the sides of the vanity hold photographic "mirrors" of myself and women from both sides of my family to express changes in the presentation due to generational differences or in comparison to my own queerness (ie. hair, face piercings, non-conforming to social expectations of Blacks and gender). The center image is a collage of 60 “selfies” and/or self-portraits I have taken over the years that make up the first un-stylized self-portrait I took at the beginning portion of this project.
This project was displayed in my undergraduate senior thesis exhibition at the University California, Davis, titled “Obstructive Metaphors”. A letter from a relative that described life as a Black woman in 1914 as well as an interview from my great aunt describing the life of her own accompanied the display.