I work figuratively in pen, collage, and digital media to portray larger-than-life Black, female characters taking up space in real and imagined worlds. In a series of mural installations, I present a subjective Black woman’s fairytale to process interlocking structures of oppression. Centered in the speculative practice of the Black imaginary that creates spaces of both comfort and confrontation, I tell the story of a Black woman who escapes into an alternate reality made up of only herself, her hair, and the clothes she wears. This text is centered on a chapter of this ongoing narrative, Source of All Hair, Wearer of All Socks, 2022, an installation designed for the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis illustrating the power dynamics that emerge in this new reality.
","abstract_html":"<p>I work figuratively in pen, collage, and digital media to portray larger-than-life Black, female characters taking up space in real and imagined worlds. In a series of mural installations, I present a subjective Black woman’s fairytale to process interlocking structures of oppression. Centered in the speculative practice of the Black imaginary that creates spaces of both comfort and confrontation, I tell the story of a Black woman who escapes into an alternate reality made up of only herself, her hair, and the clothes she wears. This text is centered on a chapter of this ongoing narrative, <em>Source of All Hair, Wearer of All Socks, </em>2022, an installation designed for the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis illustrating the power dynamics that emerge in this new reality.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Modder, Samantha"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Graduate School of Art","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Tim Portlock","Jess Dugan","Rebecca Wanzo"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-05-19T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-05-19T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:12:25Z","subjects":["black imaginary","black speculative","pen","allegory","space","installation","visual narrative","Art and Design"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7936/h34t-hy54"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.7936/h34t-hy54","href":"https://doi.org/10.7936/h34t-hy54","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_visual_art/7","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Tim Portlock","Jess Dugan","Rebecca Wanzo"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Modder, Samantha"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-05-10T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Graduate School of Art"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["black imaginary","black speculative","pen","allegory","space","installation","visual narrative","Art and Design"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_visual_art/7"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7936/h34t-hy54"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["I work figuratively in pen, collage, and digital media to portray larger-than-life Black, female characters taking up space in real and imagined worlds. In a series of mural installations, I present a subjective Black woman’s fairytale to process interlocking structures of oppression. Centered in the speculative practice of the Black imaginary that creates spaces of both comfort and confrontation, I tell the story of a Black woman who escapes into an alternate reality made up of only herself, her hair, and the clothes she wears. This text is centered on a chapter of this ongoing narrative, Source of All Hair, Wearer of All Socks, 2022, an installation designed for the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis illustrating the power dynamics that emerge in this new reality.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Source of All Hair, Wearer of All Socks"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Tim Portlock","Jess Dugan","Rebecca Wanzo"],"dc:creator":["Modder, Samantha"],"dc:date.available":["2022-05-10T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["I work figuratively in pen, collage, and digital media to portray larger-than-life Black, female characters taking up space in real and imagined worlds. In a series of mural installations, I present a subjective Black woman’s fairytale to process interlocking structures of oppression. Centered in the speculative practice of the Black imaginary that creates spaces of both comfort and confrontation, I tell the story of a Black woman who escapes into an alternate reality made up of only herself, her hair, and the clothes she wears. This text is centered on a chapter of this ongoing narrative, Source of All Hair, Wearer of All Socks, 2022, an installation designed for the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis illustrating the power dynamics that emerge in this new reality.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_visual_art/7"],"dc:identifier.doi":["https://doi.org/10.7936/h34t-hy54"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["black imaginary","black speculative","pen","allegory","space","installation","visual narrative","Art and Design"],"dc:title":["Source of All Hair, Wearer of All Socks"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Graduate School of Art"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:12:25Z"}