Amanda Brown, Senior art student

Abstract

Amanda Brown exhibited in the 2004 Senior Thesis Show. "Culturally, knowledgeably, and in my lifestyle I am Hispanic as chorizo. My blackness...Well that’s some cornbread that has yet to be baked.

These works stem from a desire to identify and characterize a “middle” realm in which I find myself existing. I exist there superficially, as a product of an interracial union between a Hispanic woman and a Black man. Stereotypes play an important role in attempting to locate the “middle”. These works explore the discomfort and guilt in realizing that stereotypes I once cringed at, out of a sense of obligation, can be true. The more work that I create, the deeper the confrontation I encounter with certain stereotypes. I am forced to recognize that blackness is centered on the stereotypes that I see. I am learning how to fit in where I do not exist. It is my hope that in defining blackness, I will be able to unite my two halves to create a stereotypical “middle”."