Artist Spotlight: Maya Freelon Asante
Maya Freelon Asante's work is recognized for its beautiful usage of watercolor on tissue paper. In this artist spotlight learn more about the Durham, NC based artist who calls Baltimore, MD her home.
Maya Freelon Asante at the Brandywine Workshop, 2008
Maya Freelon Asante is a product of a truly artistic family tree. Her father, Philip Freelon, is an award-winning architect and her mother, Nnenna Freelon, is a six-time Grammy nominated Jazz vocalist. Additionally, both of her brothers are musicians and educators. If that wasn’t enough she married filmmaker and professor, M.K. Asante, Jr. “That makes everyone in my family on both sides in the arts-education field.” Freelon Asante concludes. However, she notes that her drive to become an artist extends beyond the influence of her family because art has always been rooted in the African-American community. “African-American traditions of creative ingenuity are a constant source of inspiration in my work,” says Freelon Asante. She also says that she is inspired by the world and keeps her eyes and ears open to new ideas.
Similarly to how our great-grandmothers and grandmothers were able to create quilts out of discarded scraps of cloth, Maya Freelon Asante says her work with tissue paper developed after discovering a stack of water damaged tissue paper tucked away in her grandmother’s basement. The visuals that she creates focus on joining tissue-paper together in quilt-form. The time it takes to create a piece ranges from a day to several years.
Help Us, Help Us, Tissue Paper & Collage, 7"x10”, 2007
When asked why she chose tissue paper as her material of choice Freelon Asante explains, “Tissue paper is both fragile and resilient. It’s the perfect metaphor for life. An individual sheet starts perfectly crisp, undamaged, with true and vibrant color. With use it ages, blends with other colors and may get wrinkled or ripped. The ‘life’ of the paper is recorded on its surface.”
Recently, Maya Freelon Asante was awarded C.Sylvia and Eddie C. Brown Studio at the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower in her new hometown of Baltimore, MD. This honor means that she will have a dedicated studio for two years. Freelon Asante says that she is looking forward to creating art in downtown Baltimore and notes similarities between Baltimore and her hometown of Durham, NC. “People actually say hi, open the door for you and have a little “Southern Hospitality” here,” says Maya Freelon Asante.
Blood of Our Ancestors, Ink on Paper, 6’x3.5’, 2007
Maya Freelon Asante is a self described Artivist (artist/activist) who lists Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden and Faith Ringgold among her favorite artists. “I really admire artists who are also scholars and dedicated to recording and sharing the history and accomplishments of African-American artists.” adds Freelon Asante. “I believe it’s the role of artists to, in the words of Langston Hughes, “show the world as it is, but how it could and should be,” Freelon Asante said.
A great quality about Maya Freelon Asante’s work is her ability to instill life into discarded objects. Her work is not only striking but, is also injected with thought-provoking messages. Her visuals take individual pieces of tissue paper and make them look larger than life. This concept can be used to describe society because when individuals unite for a common goal they can create an incredible outcome.
For more information on Maya Freelon Asante visit her website.
joalo
Dec 29th 09
04:36 AM