Urielle Blanchard
Artist Statement
Identification explores the conversation about skin-tone desirability. As a mixed-race individual, I have often felt torn between my multicultural narratives. This piece is an expression of my cultural identity as being mixed. The work discovers individual experiences when faced with the notion of a “desirable” skin tone. It explores how these experiences manifest within different cultures through recognition and repetition, time and memory. I want to expose the subtly in skin color by using a liquid spectrum of skin tones. Liquid can form to any mass and it has memory, such as any human individual. I want the audience to feel as if they could mould their figures in any color or several colors to be a part of the spectrum, to become a part of a larger conversation of how their skin tone affects them.
Identification Part 2 goes hand in hand with Identification. It’s the interweaving lines that represent the constant mix of cultures. Our ancestry lines are long, but who do we identify with? The piece encourages the audience to envision their bloodline and how that contributes to their cultural identity. I consider my multicultural narratives leading to my mixed skin tone and how these cultures influence my acceptance of my skin color.