Me Too

Oil Paint on Canvas

2018

“Me Too” exposes the horrific experiences of Black women in European settings. The painting referenced underneath titled: “Three Young White Men and a Black Woman” by Christian Van Couwenbergh shows the rape of an unidentified Black woman. Along with many others, this painting is a horrific representation of Black women historically and contemporarily. None of the expressions of the white men in the painting are remorseful while the Black woman shows great fear in both expression and gesture. The contemporary self-portrait painted into Couwenbergh’s painting shows the mesmerizing disgusted expression. Unlike many of the other contemporary figures, the transparency of the self-portrait places a distinct separation between the two Black women in the painting. It is almost as if I am watching this horrific scene with the audience. The painting creates a deep silence by juxtaposing the very potent graphic scene with a very still ghostly self-portrait. Additionally, “Me Too” references the “me too” movement and the oversight of the historical and systemic sexual assault Black women have faced in the past and continue to face in the present.