Alice Beasley, Oakland based artist with “Unidentified Black Male”, 2015, Fabric composition of needle-felted wool, cotton and cheesecloth on gallery wrapped canvas, 36 x 24 inches in “Deadlocked and Loaded: Disarming America”. I first saw Beasley’s work at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles and was mesmerized by their intricate beauty—such delicate work on issues that portray the ironies of Black life versus white life in the US. White men can carry assault weapons into public spaces, Black men and Black children on the contrary are shot daily over the merest perception of a weapon.
Beasley says, “As bad as Newtown was, the reality is that black children and teens are the primary victims of gun deaths. An estimated 18,227 children and teens were injured with guns in 2017. Black children and teens were four times more likely to be killed or injured with a gun than their white peers. But, unlike Newton, these deaths are cloaked in anonymity and draw no concern from public or media. No child is safe in a nation with easy access to deadly weapons. Guns lethalize hate, anger and despair—increasing the odds a senseless act of violence turns into an irreversible tragedy.”
From her bio: I have been making portraits of people and objects since 1988. Fabric is my chosen medium of expression through which I incorporate the same light, shadow and realistic perspective used by artists in other media. Rather than using paint, dyes or other surface treatments, however, I rely instead on finding color, line and texture in the print of commercial fabric and thread or in fabrics that I print myself. I work directly, gradually building a composition in the same manner as a painter working on a canvas; cutting all pieces free-hand from fabric and then machine appliqueing them.
My subject matter is primarily the human figure and the intricate web that plays out as we bob and weave in community with each other. In my studio, I distill what I see into portraits of everyday living in a multicultural world. The contrast of showing deep emotions through a “soft” medium such as fabric can catch viewers by surprise. As one reviewer described it, “it [is] the details in the needlework, the subtle patterns in the fabric that are so haunting.” Ultimately my goal is to celebrate the human condition in work that both intrigues and inspires the viewer.
My work has been exhibited in many venues throughout the United States including the De Young Museum in San Francisco, the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., the American Folk Art Museum in New York and the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum as well as abroad in Spain, France, Japan, Namibia and Croatia. My work has been purchased or commissioned by a number of public entities including: the City and County of San Francisco, the De Young Museum, the United States Embassy, the County of Alameda, Kaiser Hospital, Highland Hospital and the Sunnyvale Medical Facility.
Learn more: alicebeasley.com and @alicembeasley
