ARTIST STATEMENT
Black Girls Must Die Exhausted (Scatter) is a commentary on the plight of contending with the forces that are against the means of black womanhood. Paired with the frustrations of trying to prove your worth in the shallow depths of ignorance, the image beckons the suggested statement, and voyages into the realm that contends with the ongoing subjugation of black womanhood. “Untitled (Forsaken) came from a place of feeling low and weary. Black women are often subjected to the harsh realities of the world and told that it’s the natural order. I felt tired and blundered by the front that I swallowed, brought back up, and masked that I was okay and functioning. Untitled (Forsaken) positions itself as a formulation on how the praxis of mental health challenges, affects black women. It begs the question of the longevity of our lives in the face of such strife. It pleads with the prose of wanting to fade into oblivion, into a decadent pool of tar, yet begrudgingly still be here anyway. My gaze foregoes my tiredness, but my presence in front of the camera suggests I am still here. “Untitled” is a continuation of this idea. It reigns as a visual depiction of a sense of self that is slowly severing from oneself. Despite its intactness, its reliance on each other is no matter for they are not at equilibrium. This describes the feeling of being out of body and upside down.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Elizabeth Sarpong is an emerging Fine Arts Photographer from Chicago, Illinois. She is a Ghanaian-American artist who works primarily in the medium of Digital Photography. Sarpong’s work is a force to be reckoned with, as she contends with real-life issues in the realm of her blackness and on a broader spectrum. Growing up in a Ghanaian household, Sarpong’s work draws heavily upon her heritage and identity as a conduit for her art. She first became interested in Photography at the young age of 15 and has been honing her craft ever since. Her visionary works tell the story of many, shedding light on pressing matters such as the neglect of black women within society. Sarpong’s stylistic choices and intentional connotations create alluring images that are powerful in their attempt to disrupt one’s perception with beauty and thought-provoking questions. Her work challenges the markers of her identity prescribed onto her by society, such as her blackness and womanhood, and presents them as elegies that question and redefine what it means to be a young black creative voice.
© Elizabeth Sarpong