Natalie

Natalie’s Artist’s statement:

In my art piece, I used a lot of symbolism.

For the background, I used a print out picture of the Theophilus Probate record. This was a record of his purchase of land from a white land owner. This was a really important part of his history, so I wanted to incorporate it in some way.

I painted a soft gray silhouette of a person on top of the record. I imagine that that person is waiting for a better time, a time where they could be free. I thought that this was the best color to choose because we don't know the race of Theophilus. You also cannot see any details of his face because,again, we don't have any record of them. We only know bits and pieces of this story.

I also wanted to represent his children in some way. They all are an important part of his story, and are his legacy! I used the Gladiolus, a flower that represents strength, to symbolize all 6 of his children. I added each white gladiolus flower around the silhouette. Because green represents growth, I also added two petals to each flower, because each and everyone of their stories are still growing. I also added a Gladiolus flower to the center of the silhouette of Theophilus.

I wrote Theophilus Niger, Recorded, Peace, Free, on the bottom in the painting, labeling the incredible person that we got to discover.