EBONY G. PATTERSON
…bearing witness…, 2017
Archival dyes on jacquard, with embroidery,
hand-knotted threads and assorted embellishments
Fabric: 52 x 69 inches (132.08 x 175.26 cm)
Overall size: 88 x 69 inches with hanging threads (223.52 x 175.26 cm)
Series of 10 unique variants
Published by Carolina Nitsch, New York for Prospect.4, New Orleans
PTT-0001
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Patterson’s multilayered work employs the opulence of its hand-embellished surface to seduce the viewer into confronting social realties. Indeed, a powerful message exists beneath the ornate web of threading and rhinestones that makes up the work’s large-scale composition, a call to action partially obscured, but no less clear: “See Me”. With this, Patterson commands the viewer to look past the façade – of the work’s rich formal characteristics, of the fabricated fantasies increasingly traded in our consumer and social mediacentric culture – and to acknowledge the realities of those not touched by the glitter and gold. Patterson’s aesthetic pulls the viewer in and forces them to bear witness to the violence and social injustices imposed upon those deemed invisible. The paradoxical means the artist uses to convey this message only emphasize its urgency and weight.