Jamaican artist Ebony G. Patterson creates work that examines conventional gender roles — in particular those of her home country — through elaborate, glimmering, multi-layered compositions. Specifically, Patterson draws upon visual references to Jamaican dance-hall music and culture, a hyper-masculine landscape filled with conventionally feminine signifiers. Both captivating and overwhelming, Patterson’s art appeals to the human desire for beauty and visual complexity in texture, color, and form, while subtly referencing violence and anguish.
In an article that appeared in Vogue in 2012, Patterson declared, “What I also like to get involved with is embellished photo tapestry. . . perhaps it’s best described as ‘shiny’.” Patterson uses appealing textures and glimmering surfaces to draw viewers into swirling narratives of race- and gender-related violence. The materiality highlights the dichotomy of feminine and masculine, by turns inviting and threatening. Next to a tassel might appear a plastic painted gun — or, as in the “Dead Treez” series, nestled amongst an arrangement of jewels are collaged photographs of murder victims taken from social media sites.
A quotation from the artist encapsulates this push-pull of brutality and glamor, and challenges to the viewer to truly look at the work, to be fully present to it.
…two birds-beyond the bladez, 2014. Mixed media on paper. 90 x 89 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago. Photo © Scott McCrossen/FIVE65 Design.
“The bee is attracted to the flower because of its coloring, because of the beauty, and it isn’t until he gets in that he discovers if the flower has the nectar he wants.”
Brella Krew from the Fambily Series, 2013. Mixed media hand embellished photo tapestry. Triptych 75 x 291 inches overall. Installation view at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, 2014. Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.
“So you are attracted to the work because of its shininess, because of its prettiness, but it’s not until you get into the work that you start to realize its something more.”
II Rosez, 2014. Mixed media, jacquard weaved tapestry with jewelry and 150 crochet flowers. Triptych 108 x 234 x 6 inches overall. Installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2015. Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.
“There is a challenge being made about seeing and looking.”
Swag Swag Krew, from Out and Bad series, 2011-2015. Mixed media installation with 10 mannequins, clothing, cinder blocks, flowers, hand embellished objects on plinth. Installation dimensions variable. Installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2015. Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.
“The seeing is what happens in social media but it is the looking is what I’m asking you to do.”
where we found them, 2014. Mixed media jacquard weaved tapestry with jewelry, shoes, gold chains, tassels, 100 crochet flowers. 96 x 72 x 6 inches. Installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2015. Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery.
“The looking requires thought, it requires engagement, it requires awareness, and it requires presence.”
Swag Swag Krew, from Out and Bad series, 2011-2015. Mixed media installation with 10 mannequins, clothing, cinder blocks, flowers, hand embellished objects on plinth. Installation dimensions variable. Installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2015. Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.
