I'm a woman of color. I've lived in black neighborhoods all of my life, and most of the time I get hit on in my neighborhood - and mostly by black men. And so I wanted to have my specific experience and my perspective on street harassment out there.
I feel like this is a feminist issue and is going to be a part of a feminist conversation, and I wanted images of women of color in that conversation - feminism historically has left us out.
It's been kind of extreme - people either love it or they don't like it at all - and I think that's a good thing. It's my first art project where there's not a middle ground. I find it very interesting. But the negative feedback hasn't at all kept me from doing it, obviously. Because I haven't really gotten any negative feedback that I feel is really warranted.
I've generally gotten negative feedback from men who don't understand and don't find street harassment to be a serious issue. I've also gotten a lot of responses from women who are appreciative and thankful for the project; who relate to it who are passionate about it.
Men who are offenders of street harassment and women who experience street harassment can walk by and feel something about it, because it's out there in the environment where the harassment actually happens. So it's a lot more powerful than an oil painting that's stuck in a gallery or under my bed or in my studio where only a couple of eyes are going to see it, as opposed to it being in an environment where it could possibly effect a change.
Specifically for black women, our images and our bodies in the media and in history have been so hypersexualized.
You're treated as though you're just a piece of meat, and you're there for consumption by men. I feel like the common thing is men feeling entitled to treat you how they want to treat you. You never feel as though you have a right to the space. And so that's the theme behind most of the posters - "I'm not outside for your entertainment" and "I'm not seeking your validation."
I sat down and came up with a caption that I thought would fit well on the poster - something that was short and succinct but got a point across. The latest poster was a direct quote - it was exactly what the woman told me.
I feel like we're looked at as either completely nonsexual characters or overly sexual characters, and I feel like that affects how we're treated in the public space by men. I believe that women of color experience street harassment in a very hyper way. So I wanted to draw these women in their very normal, regular states and put those images out there in the public for people to see, instead of these other, very sexualized, images of women.
Stop telling women to smile.
I'll definitely pay attention to someone who is critiquing the artwork. But as far as someone not thinking street harassment is a big deal or that I'm being uptight? I don't think that's a valid critique.
Depending on where you live and how you travel - whether you drive or bus or whatever - your experiences may be different. But I think that theme will be the same.
I am primarily an oil painter and a studio painter, so originally I was going to do an oil painting.
