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$6,000.00
Newberry Six by Ransome, wood, nails, collage, acrylic and paints, 14 x 4 x 4 inches.
Lynched: These works were made with the intention of learning more about the victims of lynching throughout American history while considering the continuing violence committed against Black bodies following the end of slavery in the United States. While researching these histories, I was surprised to find that that there was almost no information about these victims’ personalities. In that absence, I felt the need to make small, intimate shrines that ask questions of these people rather than depicting their hangings. These sculptures ask: Who are you? What did you enjoy? What was your favorite candy? Did you enjoy fashion? Did you sew? What kind of music did you like? The erasure of these victims’ stories dehumanizes their very existence, silencing their voices. These shrines attempt to create a space for them to speak. Their coffin-shaped boxes represent the final resting places for 6 of 173 women who were victims of white mob violence in the United States between 1837 and 1946. Of these 173 women lynched: 144 were African American, 25 were white, 3 were Mexican, and 1 was Native American. The boxes also act as a place to protect them from any additional harm. I complete them by hammering nails into all sides of the boxes, likening them to nkondi, the mystical statuettes from the Congo. Nkondi serve as a home for the spirit, from which it can venture to harm people, perhaps meting out justice upon those who have harmed them. Laura Nelson and Family, 2021, Wood, nails, collage, acrylic paints, change purse, and dollar bill Ms. Nelson was lynched along with her 14-year-old son L.D. on May 25, 1911, near Okemah, Oklahoma. Her husband, Austin survived, only because he pleaded guilty to stealing the steer to feed his family and was imprisoned. The couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Carrie also survived and was found in a basket floating in a river. I have portrayed the entire family because the lynching shattered the family unit.
Ransome was born in North Carolina and moved to a New Jersey suburb as a teenager. He graduated from Pratt Institute and was a tenured professor in the School of Visual Performing Arts at Syracuse University before retiring to pursue his dreams of being a studio artist. He received his MFA in Studio Arts from Lesley University. My work is a dual narrative of lyricism and resilience. The spirited by product of limited resources and frugality, I create works of art that speak to the struggle and hope, pain, joy, and soul of folks in the Black community.
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