Heroes Triptych Lesson

Heroes Triptych - Inspiration

The Things We Worship by Annalee Davis

 

I decided summer of 1998 that my students were going to do a unit on Explorers (because I bought a book of antique maps - and they studied Age of Exploration in Social Studies - students also wrote about an important Renaissance person in Social Studies). After my classes at Bluffton College that summer, I knew I really wanted the kids to think of the consequences of that exploration. I took a class on Native America Culture and African Culture (at the same time! a double whammy for me - boy did I do a LOT of thinking). It wasn't until I opened my new book Caribbean Visions: Contemporary Painting and Sculpture (Copyright 1995 Art Services International, Alexandria Virginia) that I decided what I wanted to do. The artists who inspired the triptych is Annalee Davis from Barbados (this group of 8th graders were my first group that had Haitian art in 6th grade - a few of them had me that trimester).

 

      

 

The Things We Worship - Closed front                                          The Things We Worship - back

 

I began looking for images in National Geographics for my work at that time - I was going to do Christopher Columbus - I sure had a lot to say about exploration of the Americas.... My African corn image (top left inside) was originally meant for the Columbus triptych I never made (I "gifted" all of my other Columbus images to my students - I kept my dragon, too). I discovered Mary Henrietta Kingsley in the fall while researching Columbus (and looking for Explorer web sites for my students) - and she was worthy of my personal "hero" status. I never had to do a painting sample for my students. I just showed them the pictures in my book (sorry the photos are so poor - sometime I'll redo them - just wanted to get this on ASAP). Painting was only an option the first year (since this followed a printmaking unit). The second year, we only did colored pencil and glazing over digital images.

 

 

The Things We Worship - open. Acrylic on wood. 67"x95" (1.7 x 2.4 m)

 

I took this book in, showed my students Anna's work - and read her statement.

 

Annalee Davis (page 98) "My work has been influenced by conditions in my country and region, where mistaken identity's, racial passions, and layers of betrayal simmer in isolated islands. The scars run deep and are compelling. I use my work to explore the wounds of these small island cultures, probing the hurts that simultaneously unite and divide a people. One of the central icons running through the work is the agricultural land, once bountiful, now lost to the highest bidder."

 

"I live and work in the Caribbean, my family tree is rooted in the sugar cane plantation of Barbados. I feel connected to the younger generation of regional image makers who seek a hybrid expression which gives new form to our experience."

 

"I am committed to creating visual narratives that implore society to look within itself and to expose contradictions that, if left to prevailing market trends, would go unchallenged. Through reflection and expression, artists can offer fresh landscapes that challenge myths, erode barriers, and create a forum for dialogue."

 

See more of her work Museum of Americas - Brief bio [Archive]

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