Faith Ringgold and the Recognition of African American Women in Painting and Quilts
Written by Drinalba Shérifi
Edited by Kennedy Randall
Black women in visual representation are often portrayed stereotypically as passive subjects by the white gaze. In portraits such as Prudence Heward’s Dark Girl, the woman is presented as an individual who does not possess a self-fashioning identity but rather an image of exoticism and otherness that has been attributed to her [1]. This affirms their misrepresentation in the art industry as well as the lack of determination from art institutions to encourage empowering works made by the black community. Consequently, many black female artists such as Faith Ringgold have been working for decades to innovate the discourse on the representation of black subjects in art. I will focus on Ringgold’s feminist and intersectional approach in rendering black culture through different mediums, such as quilts and paintings.
Figure 1: Faith Ringgold, Feminist Series #6, 1972, acrylic on canvas, 43 x 26 ½”.
Faith Ringgold was born in 1930 in Harlem. After obtaining her Bachelor of Science in art education at New York’s City College in 1955, she began teaching in the New York City public schools in 1973. Her experience as an artist started in the 1960s. According to Melaudy Graulich, it is when she travelled to Europe with her mother and her two daughters that she started making art in her home. Her education in Paris allowed her to study high art and artists such as Cézanne, Degas, and Utrillo, which she later uses as inspirations for her feminist quilts [2]. Her primary focus was to work on various skin tones to create images of black people as well as portraying the individuals in her community [3]. During the 1980s, she developed story quilts, inspired by the traditional quilt practices amongst African American women. Within this medium, Ringgold harmonizes visual imagery and story-telling languages to integrate political, societal, gender and race-based issues amongst the black community [4].
Alternatively, the key aspects of her work discussed in this essay are the art of storytelling, the black aesthetic, the female subject and the use of narration as a tool of empowerment in her characters. The use of the word in Ringgold’s art has always been important for encouraging dialogue around the deeper meanings of her works. Ever since she was young, Ringgold affirms that she was always drawn to the stories that her parents would tell her. This inspired her to use a storytelling perspective in her work to narrate and conceptualize her imagination [5]. Working with words helps facilitate the interpretation of the work as it accompanies the viewer’s perception and also encourages a conversation, which is also a theme recurrent in her quilts as her characters are often depicted interacting with each other. Moreover, her approach to representing the black aesthetic conforms to her beliefs in portraying subjects in a way that does not stereotype them but celebrates them. She mentions issues of racism, prejudice, and rape, but the imagery that she creates around these subjects shows resilience, power, and courage as main guides to interpretation. As previously mentioned, her use of multiple skin tones impacts her work by presenting the plurality of contrasts that can be done with dark colours and creates harmony when placed together [6]. These colours also symbolize the idea of representing black subjects in their diversity, as they all possess different skin tones. “ I work from the blacks and browns and grays that cover my skin and hair”, says Ringgold. “My vision of myself necessarily extends to [the] colors of everything else in the world,” [7]. Using a distinctive palette of blacks, browns, and grays for her paintings supposes that she expresses her identity through the diverse and inclusive colours she showcases. Furthermore, the importance of the female subject is shown extensively in Ringgold’s paintings and quilts. Women are often the primary subjects of her work, as they take an active role in the narration of the composition. Most of Ringgold’s works exhibit the importance of representing women and elevating their roles in society. Melaudy Graulich mentions that “all the narrators of Ringgold’s quilts are African-American women who speak with authority in their own voices,” [8]. The women represented by the artist possess a power of speech, as they make their voices heard.
Figure 2: Faith Ringgold, The Picnic at Giverny, 1991. From the French Collection Series, Part 1 #3.
Before discussing the artist’s work on feminism, it is necessary to present the medium used largely in two of Faith Ringgold’s major works, The Feminist Series and French Collection. As previously mentioned, Faith Ringgold began quilting in the 1980s. Joyce Millman suggests that she first came in contact with this form of art when her mother started teaching her the process of making quilts, which was something that had been passed on by generations in her family. Indeed, the tradition came through her great-grandmother, who was a former slave [9]. For slave women in the 1800s, quilting represented a “secret language” for them to communicate with, as they were not allowed to read or write [10]. As this art form became popularized, other elements such as quilt primers, which were used to form letters, created a narration in the object itself [11]. This explains Ringgold’s choice of opting for this medium since it possesses the functions of a readable object made by women to communicate and teach. Moreover, as slave women had small quantities of uniform patterns, this forced them to use recycled fabrics that they would assemble altogether [12]. This created various motifs and shapes, which are representative of African-American quilting and its irregularity in the pattern. They embraced the idea of diversity and multiplicity as well as having a chaotic arrangement of unique designs [13]. In contemporary quilting, the values remain mainly the same. According to Alana Butler, the tradition of quiltmaking among African-American women prevails as an activity meant to share knowledge through times of oppression. Quiltmaking is a way to bring awareness to social and racial issues, as much as it communicates the affirmation of the makers and their identities [14]. These women, such as Faith Ringgold, take an active stand to not remain silent like their ancestors were forced to.
Faith Ringgold’s Feminist Series began when advocacy groups such as the Women’s Movement were fighting for equal rights in the 1960s. According to Lisa E. Farrington, this movement “greatly affected Ringgold’s life and career,” [15]. She certainly was inspired by this era when making her quilts for the Feminist Series, as they present voices from important women, such as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Shirley Chisholm [16]. My focus on this work is Ringgold’s approach to representing the female subject through landscape and words for the work Feminist Series #6 (Figure 1). The vertical quilt, made with approximately six different colourful patterns, presents a landscape covered by trees. The colours of the composition range from shades of blue, green and orange. In the upper part of the landscape, Ringgold depicts a dark blue sky, with an inscription in gold. The text, taken from one of Harriet Tubman’s speeches, says the following: “There was one of two things I had a right to – liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive,” [17]. By using a text from a pioneering activist during the period of slavery, the artist affirms the historical power of language as a tool to fight for one’s freedom. The use of landscape in this work not only draws on to the inscription at the top of the quilt but is also inspired by Thangka paintings, which is a form of textile art that originated in Tibet. This conjecture of text and medium illustrates nature and its connection with the spiritual human experience [18]. Ringgold’s painting invites the viewer to consider the landscape as an extension of the inscription and as an imagery depicting women's freedom. The choice of displaying the words in a horizontal direction supports the idea of reading through the painting, as the viewer would need to closely stare at the painting from left to right to fully read the message. Ringgold intends to bring awareness to female exposure by engaging with the audience’s participation, as they not only see an image but also hear the voice of Tubman as they are reading the inscription.
In the French Collection, Ringgold plays with the thematic of the story quilt. She introduces a new character into her work – Willia Marie, a sixteen-year-old girl who goes to Paris to pursue an artistic career. Throughout Willia’s story, she makes a name for herself in the modern art movement and becomes a successful artist [19]. Willia represents the alter ego of Faith Ringgold, which speaks a lot about the artist’s intentions regarding her female subject. Willia does not embody the figure of the muse, which is often seen with male artists depicting women. Rather, Willia navigates through the quilts of Ringgold and becomes a self-fashioned woman. We see her as a complex character, able to evoke women’s determination in society as she is actively participating in hers. In Picnic at Giverny (fig. 2), we see Willia, on the right, painting a group of women, who are contemporary feminists, while they are out in Monet’s garden. In the bottom right of the quilt, we see Picasso, sitting naked on the ground. His pose is similar to one of the women in Manet’s Déjeuner sur l’herbe [20]. In the original painting of the French artist, the female subject is sitting naked in between two fully clothed men at a picnic. In Ringgold’s painting, we see the male subject being the one who is confronting the viewer with his direct gaze. Indeed, it is interesting how in this work it is not the woman who solicits the viewer’s attention but the man. Ringgold reverses the roles of men and women in her composition to portray women in a powerful stance. She offers her take on famous paintings done by men, which projects her intention to elevate the recognition of women in the art world as artists who can also possess ingenuity and mastership. Moreover, the mutual bonds of the women in the quilt are also perceptible, as they sit together and exchange. There is a sense of kinship, as opposed to the figure of Picasso who is separated from the entourage and is consequently deprived of his prominence. Furthermore, Lori-Ann Beaudoin mentions that the women are represented with different body types, which affirms the artist’s concern with body positivity and her willingness to break with previous expectations of women’s image under the male artist [21].
In Café des Artistes (fig. 3), Ringgold also illustrates Willia amongst notable individuals. We can see figures such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Utrillo, Van Gogh, Gaughin, Elizabeth Catlett, Augusta Savage, Edmonia Lewis as well as some of the artist’s friends. They are all seated near the Café des Artistes and are listening to Willia’s discourse about art. Faith Ringgold describes her alter ego’s presence as such: “She’s getting very sophisticated, and she makes proclamations. That’s what they used to do in those cafes. Guys would get up and proclaim that: “From here on all artists should…” And they would argue about it,” [22]. The artist associates her character with a certain entourage, mainly consisting of prominent figures, to present her ascension as a known artist. Just like in Picnic at Giverny, Ringgold transposes a patriarchal concept, such as the gathering of intellectual men at a café, and puts a woman as the leading figure. Willia is the one who is proclaiming her perception of art and men are the ones who listen to her. The artist’s focus is to imagine an environment where a woman’s voice can be heard as much as a man’s. Therefore, having a strong female presence such as Willia in her quilts shows her empowerment and idealizes the recognition of women in the industry. The quilt also presents a gathering where men and women are both included in terms of their notability. She is as important as the figures beside her, which represents an ideal of collectiveness amongst men and women. Ringgold envisions a world for her character where opportunities, such as sharing knowledge with masters of the industry, are encouraged.
Figure 6: Faith Ringgold, Picasso’s Studio, The French Collection, Part 1, 1991. 73 x 68”, oil/canvas, pieced and printed fabric, artist’s collection.
The representation of the black female subject is also an important aspect of Faith Ringgold’s work. In this part, I will talk about her intersectional approach in the making of her story quilts. First, it is primordial to acknowledge Faith Ringgold’s discourse on the misrepresentation of black women in our society. According to the artist, “ It’s a huge problem for African-American women and other people of color; other people decide what their experience is and they want to hear that and nothing else. Artists don’t see themselves that way,” [23]. She denounces the idea that a black woman needs to embody the figure of a vulnerable and oppressed individual to be heard. In our visual culture, we are often shown images of abuse when representing African American women, which does not represent the artist’s reality. The purpose of her quilts is to show positive visuals and stories with agency that have long been deprived from visual culture. Moreover, her art centers on Afrofemcentrism, which recognizes the image of the black women constructed by the black female artist. According to Freida High Tesfagiorgis, Afrofemcentrism is about the consciousness of African American visual culture and its production of works that depict black women’s realities [24]. If we look at Ringgold’s painting Soul Sister (figure 4), she portrays the woman as someone who is displaying sensuality because of her bare breasts and her direct glance at the viewer. This painting can be read as a discourse on the affirmation of her sexuality, which opposes the traditional visual culture of black women being depicted as sexual objects. Faith Ringgold showcases the black female body as being subjected to appreciation, as she projects a sentiment of freedom from painting a female nude that is not being hypersexualized. Furthermore, she practices the tradition of illustrating the nude, which had long been historically forbidden to women. By depicting a black woman in the nude, Ringgold affirms the position of the black female artist and her intention to depict an image that is true to her perception of the black body.
As we have seen earlier on with quilts such as in Picnic at Giverny and Café des Artistes, the American artist often uses popular images and recreates them to present a confident perception that has been denied to women working in the art industry. In the quilt Who’s Afraid of Aunt Jemima? (Figure 5) She reinvents the image around the figure of the mammy in black popular culture. The mammy was traditionally seen as a domestic worker. She would be the cook in the white family and would also take care of the children. In commercials, she is often seen as being overweight and physically unattractive. Over time, her image has been considered to portray a stereotypical and racist image. With Ringgold’s story quilt, we see Aunt Jemima (now called Jemima Blakey) as a renowned cook having her restaurant. She may still possess an image that is similar to the one where she is just a simple worker, but here the artist expresses how her identity does not have to be subjected to a stereotype only because she likes to cook and does not have a slim figure. The artist imagines a story where Jemima can share her own experience as a black woman. When talking about her character, she says “ […] Just think of her strength. No one ever raped Aunt Jemima. They hate her because she is not vulnerable. Isn’t she the one who takes care of the children – her own and everyone else’s – and yet is able to make something of her life?” [25]. Ringgold adds complexity to Jemima’s representation—she is not just a commercial image in the artist’s work, but rather an individual who strives for progress and entrepreneurship. She embodies a fully accomplished black woman who shares her reality as she has the freedom to. Faith Ringgold deconstructs the stereotypical image of the mammy to emphasize black women’s lives as being more than what our society makes of them. The artist reinvents these stereotypes persistent in visual culture with agency and freedom. Her purpose is to undermine the idea that African American women must share a common experience of maltreatment and suffering to be acknowledged in society.
Her work on African American women’s traditional image also brings the artist to question the previous works in art history that have illustrated the black female body. In Picasso’s Studio (Figure 6), she illustrates Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon being made by the male artist. In it, we can see a reproduction of the work, but this time with a black woman in the front. In this quilt, she engages with the artist’s use of African art by adding to it a perceptible female presence that incarnates a truthful depiction of the woman’s body. In the quilt, her body is the only one not deconstructed. Ringgold’s intention behind this choice is to reconstruct the female body that has been thoughtfully shattered by Picasso. She reappropriates the aesthetic strategies of African art, particularly with rendering masks, to convey an image of the black body. Indeed, we can see in Picasso’s work that he adds decorative masks onto the white bodies of the women, which ignores African identity and appropriates its culture. Ringgold’s work is then a response to the previous work, as it depicts the black woman not wearing the ceremonial object as a way to make her distinguishable to the viewer. The artist thus emphasizes the prominence of the black female body to counter the common use of stereotypical visual strategies practiced by white artists.
Through her story quilts, Faith Ringgold honours the identity of black women and memorializes their contribution to art history as muses and collaborators, which is something that is often not remembered. Her reproductions of famous paintings give a contemporary view on the representation of women and the rightful recognition that should be given to them. The white gaze that once had overpowering control over visual subjects is now remodelled to serve under the perspective of Ringgold, who introduces African American characters to historical narratives. This thesis presented how her narrative encompasses the complexity of the female identity as an artistic subject but also as a self-fashioning artist with agency. Through the themes of feminism, intersectionality, storytelling and black aesthetics, we perceive an all-encompassing picture of black women in visual culture.
Endnotes
1. Julia Skelly, “Hester.” in Prudence Heward: Life & Work by Julia Skelly, Art Canada Institute. Last accessed April 9, 2020. https://aci-iac.ca/art-books/prudence-heward/key-works/hester
2. Melody Graulich et al., “The Freedom to Say What She Pleases: A Conversation with Faith Ringgold.” NWSA Journal 6, no. 1 (Spring 1994) : 7, https://www.jstor.org/stable/4316306
3. Graulich et al., “The Freedom to Say What She Pleases,” 3.
4. Graulich et al., “The Freedom to Say What She Pleases,” 4
5. Lisa E. Farrington, “Faith Ringgold: The Early Works and the Evolution of the Thangka Paintings.” City University of New York, 1997, p. 191
6. Michele Wallace, “America Black: Faith Ringgold’s Black Light Series.” Journal of Contemporary African Art, no. 29 (Fall 2011): p.55, https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/480696.
7. Farrington, “Faith Ringgold,” 211
8. Graulich et al., “The Freedom to Say What She Pleases,” 4
9. Joyce Millman, “Faith Ringgold’s Quilts and Picturebooks: Comparisons and Contributions.” Children’s Literature in Education 36, no. 4 (December 2005): p. 383, https://doi-org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/10.1007/s10583-005-8318-0
10. Farrington, “Faith Ringgold,” 185
11. Myisha Priest, “Gospels according to Faith: Rewriting Black Girlhood through the Quilt.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 39, no. 4 (Winter 2014): p. 464, https://doi.org/10.1353/chq.2014.0055
12. Floris Barnett Cash, “Kinship and Quilting: An Examination of an African-American Tradition.” The Journal of Negro History 80, no. 1 (Winter 1995): p.32, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2717705
13. Elsa Barkley Brown, “African-American Women’s Quilting.” Signs 14, No. 4 (Summer 1989): p. 924, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3174693
14. Alana Butler, “Quiltmaking among African-American women as a pedagogy of care, empowerment, and sisterhood.” Gender and Education 31, no. 5 (April 2019): p.597. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2019.1594708
15. Farrington, “Faith Ringgold,” 204
16. Farrington, “Faith Ringgold,” 171
17. Farrington, “Faith Ringgold,” 178
18. Farrington, “Faith Ringgold,”180
19. Lori-Ann Beaudoin, “A Cultural Illness: Women, Identity and Eating Problems in Faith Ringgold’s Change Series.” Concordia University, 1999, p. 61
20. Graulich et al.,“The Freedom to Say What She Pleases,” 5
21. Beaudoin, “A Cultural Illness,” 61
22. Graulich et al.,“The Freedom to Say What She Pleases,” 23
23. Graulich et al.,“The Freedom to Say What She Pleases,” 12
24. Freida High Tesfagiorgis, “Afrofemcentrism and Its Fruition in the Art of Elizabeth Catlett and Faith Ringgold.” Sage 4, no. 1 (Spring 1987): p.25
25. Beaudoin, “A Cultural Illness,” 70