Joi West

The artwork from the Paul R. Jones collection, located in Tuscaloosa, AL.,  that I investigated is Faith by Amos ‘Ashanti’ Johnson. This piece shows a figure enveloped in darkness with their features highlighted in very dim light.  I was intrigued by the closeness of the subject’s face, the minimal lighting that was used, and in the way emotion is displayed on his face. This prompted me to think about the meaning and genuineness behind his expression. In my creative responses to this piece, I created multiple artworks that engaged these threads in various ways. The four responses carry the titles Questioning, Warrior Woman, Queen Mother, and Blue Queen.

For example, the first response, Questioning, is posing the question: What is faith? The general expression of the subject seems to be a mask, giving the impression that they are hiding something. I approached this piece by questioning what faith really was and what kind of emotion could be expressed simply by believing in something that can or can not come to past.  The feel I was trying to achieve was a sense of anxiousness. Above and beyond the response to the Paul R. Jones piece, my intentions for this image was to create this relationship between how we can hide our true feelings through a smile.  I invite the viewer to consider how they show their true feelings about things by contemplating if any emotion they convey is genuine.

The other three responses, Warrior Woman, Queen Mother, and Blue Queen, were stemmed from investigating the significance behind Amos Johnson’s chosen name, ‘Ashanti’.I approached these pieces by means of researching the significance of each mask and learning more about the matrilineal society of the  Ashanti people. Warrior Woman depicts the mask worn by Yaa Asantewaa, a warrior woman of the Ashanti tribe, to protect herself from battle. Queen Mother an Ashanti queen, makes sure that women in their community are treated well and also help resolve broken marriages.And Blue Queen is also an Ashanti queen who exalted in Ghanaian society, serving as a role model to the women in the community as well as a consort to the king.