MISSISSIPPI POSITIVE

   I am Black and Native American.  My work addresses    lived experiences of race, gendered space and colonial    objectification.  “Mississippi POSITIVE” confronts New    World borders, frame theories and the Black male body    politick. 

            MATERIALITY:  Metal, removed outside the    studio, and painted by South Side Chicago weather;    rusted using acids, including uric acid; red clay soil from    my tribal burial grounds in Itawamba, Mississippi    (where I was born and raised); sand from the Iroquois    Landing.  Strips of rusted nails and tacks Border each    image.  Why?  Guns, Medicines and Thorns of New    World colonization, confined obedience, and the    economic power of Self-Denial, Self-Hatred and    Self-destruction, which elevates Black art gallery owners    struggling to create an artificial monolithic    representationalism. 

            CRITICISM (from Black art gallery owners):     “Your work is too depressing; too dark.”  “Black people    like brilliant colors.”  “Don’t you ever paint flowers; I    like flowers.”  “I could never sell this; it would take too    much energy.  My clients buy only POSITIVE Black    images.”

                      CONTACT:          travistravis@travistravis.com