Sisterhood can refer to either blood relations or the bonds between chosen family and women standing in solidarity with each other, and at the Driskell Center, three Black women artists potently explore these ties and how they manifest for themselves. While the artists work in different modes and with different methods, the works all feature scenes and materials of domesticity and family ties. Evita Tezeno’s mixed-media collaged paintings deploy her own hand-painted papers that include paint spatters, techniques approaching batik, and intricate patterns. These are cut into bold, bulbous shapes that form portraits and interior scenes, quiet, intimate moments between lovers or parents with their children, and in places they’re adorned with materials like buttons from the artist’s grandmother.
The gallery is inhabited by several large-scale installations that turn sections of the room into their own almost self-contained spaces. One of these by Lavett Ballard erects two living room walls, covered in wooden wall hangings of collages and paintings hung salon style. Ballard bedecks these collages with photos of flora and fauna, metallic paint splotches, stenciled patterns, and hand-painted designs. The source images could have been torn from old family vacation pictures or film reels, and some famous faces like Shirley Chisholm and Trayvon Martin are found among the subjects, creating something of a montage of Black history through the lens of a photo family photo album.
D.C.-based artist Amber Robles–Gordon has created assemblages that cover swaths of the walls and floor, forming symmetrical arrangements of original paintings and objects along with bric-a-brac that could have been pulled right out of granny’s house. Among these talismans are coasters, sticks wrapped with rainbow thread, embroidery samplers, vividly painted wood planks, and live plants in glass cubes of water. Along with these altars, she has also constructed several quilt wall-hangings, another object of the home that carries its own family history, as well as adding photos, appliques, and other collaged elements so it can be remixed and decorated to contain new narratives. Solace & Sisterhood runs through Dec. 5 at the Driskell Center, 4095 Union Ln., #1214, College Park. driskellcenter.umd.edu. Free. —Stephanie Rudig
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/772611/tony-molina-noir-city-and-more-city-lights-for-oct-16-22/