Portraiture | JaVon L. Townsend

Narrative Portraiture

The Armor Series

"Armor" is a mixed-media triptych, or three-part piece, exploring adornment as the armor Black women use to protect themselves when they step out into the world each day. Each piece is made using fabric collage on canvas and represents the process of putting on an item that are common adornments for Black women: red lipstick, rings, and earrings. Each of the hands also makes use of long and colorful fingernails, a form of self-protection that can also serve as a magnet or repellant, as well as a physical tool if necesary. The background is painted in haint/hoodoo blue, a protective color in African-American spiritual traditions, used to ward off evil. A graphic pattern using Adinkra symbols that each represent protection completes the background structure.

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Armor I: Red Lip

12" x 12" Acrylic, Fabric on canvas

Portraiture

My portraiture practice makes use of expressive color, pattern and, often, mixed media materials to communicate the stories of the people represented in each image. These selected works are completed on canvas with acrylic as the primary medium. They each explore broad themes of connection and personhood while speaking to specific experiences of groups of Black people.

01

The Earth Uses She/Her and So Do I

22" x 28" Acrylic, Fabric Cut paper, Found images on canvas Nature provides reminders of our true selves - how we can exist without the limitations of societally defined concepts of what it means to be a human. It also shows us great diversity of living things, including among genders and sexualities. Throughout time and across cultures, the Earth, as the home and life source of all living creatures, has often been referred to as "Mother" and with feminine pronouns. This work mixed media work is inspired by a friend who has a deep connection to nature and identified as trans non-binary femme. The title references her connection to the earth and pride in using the pronouns "she/her" as she transitions to reclaiming her own identity.

02

Stardust

24" x 18" Acrylic, Fabric on canvas "Stardust" is a mixed media fabric collage on canvas. Inspired by an India.Arie song lyric, "We're made up of the same stuff as the moon and the stars," it represents human connection to something larger than ourselves. The bold colors and swirls invoke a nebula, or a collection of gas between stars that later form new stars. The colors are repeated in the collaged fabric pieces that make up the figure in the center of the image, indicating their relationship to one another.

03

Rise

18" x 24" Acrylic on canvas Historically, Black women have experienced barriers to accessing softness, both as a result of racial stereotypes and as a means of self-protection. "Rise" is an acrylic painting that speaks to the experiences of black women finding freedom and safety to embrace softness. In this image, the subject is seen wearing a soft ruffled top with her shoulders exposed, representing vulnerability. Her skin is blue with hints of warmer colors, representing her shift into embracing her softer side. The background makes use of warm colors and an abstracted pattern of a butterfly wing, representing freedom and transformation, and serves as a nod to the adinkra symbol that represents gentleness.

01 / 03

The Earth Uses She/Her and So Do I

22" x 28" Acrylic, Fabric Cut paper, Found images on canvas Nature provides reminders of our true selves - how we can exist without the limitations of societally defined concepts of what it means to be a human. It also shows us great diversity of living things, including among genders and sexualities. Throughout time and across cultures, the Earth, as the home and life source of all living creatures, has often been referred to as "Mother" and with feminine pronouns. This work mixed media work is inspired by a friend who has a deep connection to nature and identified as trans non-binary femme. The title references her connection to the earth and pride in using the pronouns "she/her" as she transitions to reclaiming her own identity.

01

The Earth Uses She/Her and So Do I

22" x 28" Acrylic, Fabric Cut paper, Found images on canvas Nature provides reminders of our true selves - how we can exist without the limitations of societally defined concepts of what it means to be a human. It also shows us great diversity of living things, including among genders and sexualities. Throughout time and across cultures, the Earth, as the home and life source of all living creatures, has often been referred to as "Mother" and with feminine pronouns. This work mixed media work is inspired by a friend who has a deep connection to nature and identified as trans non-binary femme. The title references her connection to the earth and pride in using the pronouns "she/her" as she transitions to reclaiming her own identity.

02

Stardust

24" x 18" Acrylic, Fabric on canvas "Stardust" is a mixed media fabric collage on canvas. Inspired by an India.Arie song lyric, "We're made up of the same stuff as the moon and the stars," it represents human connection to something larger than ourselves. The bold colors and swirls invoke a nebula, or a collection of gas between stars that later form new stars. The colors are repeated in the collaged fabric pieces that make up the figure in the center of the image, indicating their relationship to one another.

03

Rise

18" x 24" Acrylic on canvas Historically, Black women have experienced barriers to accessing softness, both as a result of racial stereotypes and as a means of self-protection. "Rise" is an acrylic painting that speaks to the experiences of black women finding freedom and safety to embrace softness. In this image, the subject is seen wearing a soft ruffled top with her shoulders exposed, representing vulnerability. Her skin is blue with hints of warmer colors, representing her shift into embracing her softer side. The background makes use of warm colors and an abstracted pattern of a butterfly wing, representing freedom and transformation, and serves as a nod to the adinkra symbol that represents gentleness.

Dynamic Stories of Black Women

The following selected works explore stories specific to Black women. These images delve into our challenges as well as our joy. While these images speak from the specific point of view of Black women, others may find themselves in the universal emotion.

01

Into the Light of a Dark Black Night

36" x 24" Fabric, Acrylic, Paper on canvas “Into the Light of a Dark Black Night” mixed media (fabric, paper, acrylic) work on canvas, inspired by the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” later performed by Beyonce (“BLACKBIIRD”). The original song was written to serve as a beacon of hope to Black women and girls during the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1960’s, and includes themes of longing for freedom. In this image, the figure of an African American girl is seen peering out of an open window at night. She sprouts wings in shades of black as she contemplates preparing for flight.

02

In Waves

28" x 22" Digital painting, Digital Photography Giclee on Canvas "In Waves" is a digital painting exploring my experience living with uterine fibroids. The figure is seen with her hand on her belly and her head thrown backward, reflecting an exhaustion, and almost desperation. The background pattern makes use of askew, undulating, textured lines, indicating the experience of chronic pain - it is unpredictable but always present, and the intensity shifts like waves. The image is created using a vibrant orange hue, and alerting color, as pain demands your attention.

01 / 02

Into the Light of a Dark Black Night

36" x 24" Fabric, Acrylic, Paper on canvas “Into the Light of a Dark Black Night” mixed media (fabric, paper, acrylic) work on canvas, inspired by the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” later performed by Beyonce (“BLACKBIIRD”). The original song was written to serve as a beacon of hope to Black women and girls during the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1960’s, and includes themes of longing for freedom. In this image, the figure of an African American girl is seen peering out of an open window at night. She sprouts wings in shades of black as she contemplates preparing for flight.

01

Into the Light of a Dark Black Night

36" x 24" Fabric, Acrylic, Paper on canvas “Into the Light of a Dark Black Night” mixed media (fabric, paper, acrylic) work on canvas, inspired by the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” later performed by Beyonce (“BLACKBIIRD”). The original song was written to serve as a beacon of hope to Black women and girls during the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1960’s, and includes themes of longing for freedom. In this image, the figure of an African American girl is seen peering out of an open window at night. She sprouts wings in shades of black as she contemplates preparing for flight.

02

In Waves

28" x 22" Digital painting, Digital Photography Giclee on Canvas "In Waves" is a digital painting exploring my experience living with uterine fibroids. The figure is seen with her hand on her belly and her head thrown backward, reflecting an exhaustion, and almost desperation. The background pattern makes use of askew, undulating, textured lines, indicating the experience of chronic pain - it is unpredictable but always present, and the intensity shifts like waves. The image is created using a vibrant orange hue, and alerting color, as pain demands your attention.

01

Vibe

24" x 36" Acrylic on canvas "Vibe" is an acrylic painting inspired by the memory of my grandmother as a young woman. I knew my grandmother as an older, more conservative woman during my lifetime. I wanted to create something that represented her true self, free from the respectability politics that shaped her choices in how she presented herself to the world. While this is not a portrait of her, it was inspired by the spirit of a young woman who is unafraid to show up as herself wherever she goes. I intended the piece to connect viewers with their own sense of confidence or to be reminded of the women in their lives who carry this internal strength.

02

Groove

22" x 28" Acrylic, Fabric, Embroidery Floss, Cut paper on canvas “Groove” is a mixed-media work celebrating owning Black femininity through joyful movement. It features a woman enjoying being fully embodied – roller skating outdoors while wearing clothing that does not hide her body. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and its consequences have created complicated relationships with Black bodies globally. Black women, girls, and femmes, often grow up learning that our femininity may make us vulnerable to violence and undue attacks on our personhood. Many of us live disembodied for years or mask our femininity to survive. “Groove” is an expression of embodied Black femininity in public space, with a subject refusing the confinement of oppressive narratives in her movement through the world.

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Vibe

24" x 36" Acrylic on canvas "Vibe" is an acrylic painting inspired by the memory of my grandmother as a young woman. I knew my grandmother as an older, more conservative woman during my lifetime. I wanted to create something that represented her true self, free from the respectability politics that shaped her choices in how she presented herself to the world. While this is not a portrait of her, it was inspired by the spirit of a young woman who is unafraid to show up as herself wherever she goes. I intended the piece to connect viewers with their own sense of confidence or to be reminded of the women in their lives who carry this internal strength.

01

Vibe

24" x 36" Acrylic on canvas "Vibe" is an acrylic painting inspired by the memory of my grandmother as a young woman. I knew my grandmother as an older, more conservative woman during my lifetime. I wanted to create something that represented her true self, free from the respectability politics that shaped her choices in how she presented herself to the world. While this is not a portrait of her, it was inspired by the spirit of a young woman who is unafraid to show up as herself wherever she goes. I intended the piece to connect viewers with their own sense of confidence or to be reminded of the women in their lives who carry this internal strength.

02

Groove

22" x 28" Acrylic, Fabric, Embroidery Floss, Cut paper on canvas “Groove” is a mixed-media work celebrating owning Black femininity through joyful movement. It features a woman enjoying being fully embodied – roller skating outdoors while wearing clothing that does not hide her body. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and its consequences have created complicated relationships with Black bodies globally. Black women, girls, and femmes, often grow up learning that our femininity may make us vulnerable to violence and undue attacks on our personhood. Many of us live disembodied for years or mask our femininity to survive. “Groove” is an expression of embodied Black femininity in public space, with a subject refusing the confinement of oppressive narratives in her movement through the world.