Brianna McCarthy and Willow Boughs and Things I Never Knew

I always build a session around an artwork that I feel will trigger interesting conversations with the art thinkers and/or teach them something new about an artist of color.

When I came across the work of Brianna McCarthy, I was actually looking for a response to an artwork by Jan de Visscher Black Boy with a Bow and Arrow.

This piece stuck with me because while it is the portrait of a boy, his hands are those of an adult. While his face shows innocence, his look shows worries. While his surroundings are serene, his body is on alert. 

Resilience is a topic that comes up a lot within communities of color. From early on, I was taught that I need to work harder than other kids, that I need to be brighter, that I need to talk better, and that whatever happens to me, I need to bounce back faster. I never learned to dwell and to this day, I am not sure how to respond when my kids do so. 

For me, this piece by Jan de Visscher illustrates the fate of a child who had to grow up too fast. This is not what I want the art thinkers to remember about being a kid. I want them to see the beauty in them, and around them, and like my own children do today, I want them to dwell into their innocence and see their brilliance. 

The piece “Willow Boughs and Things I Never Knew” came to mind very quickly. Brianna McCarthy is from Trinidad and Tobago and dedicates her work to exploring the topics of beauty and representation in West-Indian culture and beyond. The vibrancy of the colors in the painting, the interrogative gaze of the child, the sparkle on their face and the natural wreath elevating their person was a beautiful response to black and white revelations of the piece by de Visscher. 

The reactions of the art thinkers did not disappoint. They were looking at the scarf and how beautiful it was. One art thinker asked if the jellyfish on top of their shoulders was part of the scarf. When they created their own work inspired by the work of Brianna McCarthy, more comments came up about the beauty of the skin, that is not black but dark blue as noted by one child. Dark blue, like the color of the night.