Black Medicine. 1981-82.
Clay, height 17 3/4" without base - Collection Pamela Roseneau
| One of the first in Audrey Flack's unofficial series of
female personifications, Black Medicine was modeled after a seventy-five
year old Black woman. As with most sculptures, Flack asked the model to
pose in way natural and comfortable for her, and what resulted was a figure
that is "as slow, ponderous, and powerful as the woman herself."
The figure seems slightly off access, and around her waist she wears motifs
that appear in later sculptures, such as a bullet, shell, stars, and an
eagle (Gouma-Peterson 104).
What I like best about Black Medicine is how nontraditional the body type of the figure is. She is older, and with sagging breasts and rounded hips, she is much more natural than the stereotype would allow. As a result, she challenges the notions of female beauty. She signifies healing and wisdom. |