A conversation with Trinidadian <PERSON>, the artist who created compelling American flag image for TIME magazine: Part I · Global Voices
<PERSON> finished piece for TIME magazine, a hand embroidered representation of the American flag, on canvas. Photo courtesy @artyouhungry, used with permission.
The covers of TIME magazine have often cut right to the quick of pressing issues through simple, powerful imagery that addresses both the big picture and the nuances of any given situation.
The cover for its August 31-September 7 issue, however, was especially emotive. Headlined “The New American Revolution,” a searing image of the United States flag integrates itself into the negative space, even as it holds that space to facilitate discussion about creating a future for Black Americans that will live up to the promises of fairness and equity laid out in the country's Constitution.
The artist responsible for that image is 23-year-old Trinidadian <PERSON>, whose stunning painting of <PERSON>, which she shared on Instagram, captured the attention of TIME's art director <PERSON>. The rest, as they say, is history:
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Kept this a secret but it's about @time I share that I was presented with the opportunity to create an exclusive hand embroidered piece for the cover art of TIME Magazine's recent issue “The New American Revolution” curated by <PERSON> (@pharrell) YES I SAID TIME MAGAZINE ??? So so grateful for this opportunity. Thank you to everyone at TIME (Especially <PERSON>). #artyouhungry #nnekajones #time #timemagazine #thefutureisblack #thenewamericanrevolution
A post shared by ????? ????? (@artyouhungry) on Aug 20, 2020 at 6:21am PDT
<PERSON> left Trinidad and Tobago for the US to get her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree; she graduated from the University of Tampa in May, the same month that <PERSON> was killed and the Black Lives Matter movement exploded not just in America, but around the world. It was a convergence of events that solidified her work as an “activist-artist.”
<PERSON> chose to work in the embroidery medium on canvas. As <PERSON> explained:
Every time she pushes the needle through the canvas, it’s an act of intention that mirrors the marching, the protests, the push to form a more perfect union. It’s deliberate. It’s painstaking. It’s long. It’s hard. 550
Each one of those stitches is a single person’s story, a single person’s travails. That’s why we wanted to make the stitches visible.
Even the process of making the art — <PERSON>’ fingers were cut and sore from working so quickly on it — was an act of solidarity with those who bleed from daily injustices that come with being Black in America.
Via email, I connected with <PERSON> and chatted with her about her art. In this, the first of a two-part interview, she shares her vision for how art and activism can change the world.
Artist <PERSON>, hand embroidered self-portrait on canvas. Image courtesy @artyouhngry, used with permission.
<PERSON> (JMF): Congratulations on your TIME magazine cover. Embroidery on canvas is such a unique medium. How did you gravitate toward it?
<PERSON> (NJ): Thank you! My discovery of embroidery came about through an experimental painting class at the University of Tampa. The class invited the students to create a painting without using paint as the main material on the canvas. It therefore forced my classmates and I to reflect on every day and non-traditional materials that could be used. Once I had decided that I would use thread, after seeing many other embroidery artists, I was able to complete my first hand embroidered self-portrait.
<PERSON>: It’s clearly a precise and painstaking process. What went into that TIME cover, from concept to completion?
<PERSON>: <PERSON> reached out to me […] He was automatically drawn to my hand-embroidered work and offered for me to produce cover art for the […] issue curated by <PERSON>. We had decided that using the American flag would be the perfect symbolism as it is a reflection of everything happening in the nation currently.
After having only 24 hours to complete the hand-embroidered work, I was able to stencil out the flag and have the agreed upon image completed by the deadline. The incomplete ‘finish’ contributed toward the meaning of the piece, as it is symbolic of the work in progress toward a more inclusive future. 216