Gould Library

Artist's statement:
For my independent study this term, I chose to draw portraits of some of my closest friends, depicting their individuality and their uniqueness. These women inspire me and encourage me in my life here at Carleton, and I look forward to having these supportive relationships after graduation. They are the people who have helped me get through Carleton, showing me strength, kindness, and joy in the moments when I've needed each most. It's no coincidence that we are all black women, and in this work it was critical to show our naturalistic beauty as a celebration of the roles we play in each other’s lives. In these large scale portraits, I developed tonal gradients in order to add depth to each figure, which was particularly important for capturing the essences of these faces and maintaining naturalism. It was also important to use light to create a spatial dimensionality for each face, and to evoke drama in these monochrome portraits.