Representations of Black Female Bodies in Contemporary Caribbean Art: A Model for Responding to Art

Drawing on critical race theory, intersectionality, and gender, I examine representations of Black female bodies in contemporary Caribbean art by examining three paintings by Barbadian artist Sheena Rose: (a) Black Beauty, (b) Anxiety, and (c) Mental Illness, Don’t Laugh!!! It Isn’t Funny!! Shouted the Angry Artist. I aim to encourage students and educators to consider their perceptions on issues such as race, gender, and mental health when viewing art by Black female artists. Due to the tension between observation in formal analysis and the focus on lived experiences and feelings in phenomenology, I created a Self-Reflective Model for Art Criticism Featuring a Pedagogy of Identity Exploration, resulting in a teaching unit for visual arts by Black female artists using Sheena Rose’s artwork. Due to the current and historical racialized, sexualized representations of Black Female bodies, my research is significant because of its relevance to art history, pedagogy, and studio art settings beyond Trinidad and Tobago and Canada. It also allows students to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for diversity and cultural knowledge in high school classrooms and other art settings.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Faculty of Education

Department dc:contributor.department

Department of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Education

Grantor

Brock University

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Strachan, Sophia

• Mental Health
• Visual Arts Pedagogy Practices
• Art Criticism
• Black Caribbean Christian Female Idenitity
• Contemporary Caribbean Art

Statement dc:rights

• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10464/18694

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/18694