Label Text:
The African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan marks the site of the earliest and largest African American cemetery. In use from the 1630s to 1795, the cemetery was uncovered in 1991, when construction of a federal building began there.
Dancy created nearly one hundred artworks in connection with the Burial Ground, including prints, artist books, and paintings. The title Nameless recognizes that the remains of those found were undocumented. She wanted to “[bear] witness and pay [homage]” to these individuals. Nameless represents two hands working, perhaps preparing cotton, which was a labor-intensive process performed by hand until the cotton gin was invented in the early 1790s. Dancy’s depiction of the hands seems to reveal her interest in memory and history as understood through fragments, and her work to recover the stories of Black individuals.
Lisa Crossman (2020)
Tags:
hands; abstract Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2001.669 |
