Over 40 artists nominations/applications were submitted for this amazing opportunity to be featured in the Amazon Prime series The Story of Art. NAAM was tasked with selecting a local, Black artist to represent the "DNA and soul of Black art in Seattle." The Seattle community submitted artists nominations and voted throughout the week to select the artist that will represent the heart of Black art in Seattle! The winner is Lisa Myers Bulmash! Learn more about Lisa below!
“Persistence is the DNA of Black art and its creation. We create to see ourselves in the Pacific Northwest.”
Lisa Myers Bulmash
To paraphrase the artist David Hammons, my aim is to mess around with symbols to create outrageously magical things.
As a visual artist, I am obsessed with joining elements that seem to have no relationship to each other. As an artist parent, I am driven to spotlight the contradictory narratives in American society that marginalize the most vulnerable. These collisions of ideas lead me to work in three mediums: collage, assemblage sculpture and altered books.
In each medium, I explore issues of identity, trust and imperfect memories. My collages layer translucent images over opaque scenes to illustrate how the past continues to shape the present. Assemblage sculptures combine 2D and 3D elements to flesh out flattened narratives attached to the Black body. Niches and tiny containers in my altered books compel the viewer to adjust focus onto the individual realities hidden in our shared myths.
I choose to center African American and female experiences, to expand the classical practice of using an individual narrative to illuminate the general human condition. My hope is that my symbolic language creates a much-needed magic for the viewer -- especially those who experience a daily sense of erasure or isolation.
When asked to describe the DNA of Black art in Seattle, Lisa said this:
“Legends like Jacob Lawrence and Barbara Earl Thomas are the soul of Black art in Seattle: visual artists creating iconic figurative work that centers the Black experience. We highlight local Black history, in projects such as the artwork at the Liberty Bank Building apartment complex. We often bear witness to movements for social justice, in the Black Lives Matter street mural as well as in the Seattle Art Museum. But like the general Black population here, often outsiders are astonished to learn we live here, let alone make art. Persistence is the DNA of Black art and its creation. We create to see ourselves in the Pacific Northwest.
In my own collage and book art work, I use engravings and other antique images to examine contemporary Black life. I am particularly interested in the vulnerability of Black bodies. And I do this work in a predominantly white, tech-heavy environment that loves new shiny things. Even so, I believe old, weathered materials and their stories add a deeper, more personal dimension to my narratives.
I am certain all three of us have heard well-meaning friends advise us against making Black art because it would have “a limited audience.” And yet, the Seattle Art Museum is reopening with major exhibits by Lawrence and Thomas. The DNA and soul of Black art in Seattle insists the viewer “see… the humanity, the trust, the hopes and dreams” of African Americans.”
