Art Explores African Americans’ Past and Present

 

Artist Zsudayka Nzinga Terrell clearly remembers the day in high school when the teacher asked her to write about her family history.

She saw that it was impossible to answer the questions 'Who am I?' and 'Where did I come from?'

Nzinga Terrell told VOA about her childhood memories.

“So the white kids were able to get up and talk about hundreds of years of their background. And there was me and one other black kid in the class who could go back to a plantation¹ in Virginia and that’s it.”

She talked about her family’s history.

“My people were brought here on the bottom of a ship. And they were sold and they were re-named. My dad’s side of the family took the last name of the job that they had, which is butlers. My mom’s side of the family took the last name of the plantation that owned them.”

Today, she and her husband, artist James Terrell, explore that identity² in their work. Their new exhibit³ of paintings is called “Born at the Bottom of the Ship.” The show recently opened at the Center for the Arts in Manassas, Virginia.

New culture, new tribe⁴

Over the generations, Africans became African Americans with a new culture, and Nzinga Terrell includes different parts of that story in her art. There are things that look like African cloth and design and things that make you think of American culture and clothing.

An example is “Hope and Grace,” a painting of two women wearing colorful clothes with traditional African patterns. Pointing to their hair, she says:

“They have these big afros so it could be 1960, it could be 2018.”

James Terrell’s style is more abstract⁵. Mami Wata, the first painting visitors see in the new exhibit, shows a woman rising from the ocean. Terrell explains the painting.

“Mami Wata is a goddess of the sea…. There's no light going through; there’s not a lot of color being seen, as opposed to the other ones. So, it’s just showing the time of the slaves being brought to America.”

But the artist says he also likes to play with color. Growing up, Terrell attended a church with colored glass in many windows. Because of that experience, he learned⁶ how light goes through the windows. He makes lines in his painting that look like the lines between pieces of colored glass in the church windows.

Terrell’s works⁷ show how he sees himself as an African American.

He says he wants the people in his painting to look happy, hopeful and strong.

Visitors to the art exhibit say they see themselves and their family members in the works. They like the different kinds of people in the paintings because they know that many Americans come from other countries and cultures.

The artists hope to take their exhibit to other states and around the world.

I’m Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

kid – n. young person

plantation – n. a large area of land especially in a hot part of the world where crops (such as cotton) are grown

butler – n. the main male servant in the home of a wealthy person

afro – n a hairstyle of tight curls⁸ in a full evenly rounded shape

abstract – n. expressing ideas and emotions by using elements such as colors and lines without attempting to create a realistic picture

slave – n. someone held in servitude

symbolize⁹ – v. to represent

1 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

2 identity   

n.身份，本体，特征；同一(性)，一致

参考例句：

• He never revealed his identity.他从未暴露过自己的身份。
• He showed his identity card and went in.他把工作证亮了一下就进去了。

3 exhibit   

vt.展览，展出，陈列；n.展览品；陈列品

参考例句：

• Next week those goods will exhibit in that shop. 下个星期，这些货物将在那家商店展出。
• The economy continued to exhibit signs of decline in September.9月份，经济继续呈现出衰退的迹象。

4 tribe   

n.部落，种族，一伙人

参考例句：

• This is a subject tribe.这是个受他人统治的部落。
• Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills.这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。

5 abstract   

adj.抽象的；n.摘要，梗概；vt.提取；摘录要点

参考例句：

• He is an abstract painter.他是一个抽象派画家。
• He made an abstract of a long article.他对一篇长文章做了摘要。

6 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

7 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

8 curls   

n.一绺鬈发( curl的名词复数 )；卷曲物；螺旋状物；（指头发）拳曲v.（使）弯曲( curl的第三人称单数 )；（使）卷曲；盘旋；缠绕

参考例句：

• His hair curls naturally. 他的头发天生鬈曲。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls. 她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 symbolize   

vt.作为...的象征，用符号代表

参考例句：

• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。
• Dolphins symbolize the breath of life.海豚象征着生命的气息。