January 11 - April 20, 2024
From the George Washington Carver Museum:
“Two Births and the Afterlife features a new body of work by Milwaukee-based artist Aimée M. Everett, exploring the profound transformations experienced during childbirth and the subsequent journey of self-discovery into motherhood. The artist delves into the poignant realization that with every birth, there exists a simultaneous death—the departure of one’s former identity to welcome a new, evolved self. Everett vividly portrays the overwhelming joy and simultaneous dissolution of familiar aspects of identity. This body of work—employing abstraction, minimalistic line-making, saturated colors, and melodic compositions—serves as an emotional odyssey.
The months following the birth unfolded into a challenging transition period.
The artist notes:
A child, my child, commands nurturing while I found my footing with the new identity of Mother. Interacting with a world that does not recognize or respect my new position made the days overwhelming and difficult. But with my child’s help, I am beginning to embrace the second Birth. She requires only my presence—a presence without armor. With honor and gratitude, I put to rest those former selves and thank them for making way for the new. In this second life, this second chance, I am free.
The work in Two Births is rooted in a rich history of Black women artists working in abstraction. Communicating experience and emotion through a gestureless monochromatic blue color palette in Quiet Fog (2023) recalls the synesthesia-driven Minimalism of Jennie C. Jones; the geometrical repetition of Under These Stars I Lay to Rest (2023), is akin to Howardena Pindell’s emphasis on structure, process and arrangement; while Softening My Focus (2023) signals to Mary Lovelace O’Neal’s perfectly placed gestural marks, shapes, and colors that create innumerable zones of perception.
Also drawing inspiration from the rich cultural heritage of her birthplace, New Orleans—where the celebration of the dead coexists with a forward-looking perspective—the artist embraces this tradition within the exhibition. Through this work, the artist not only honors the past but also looks optimistically toward the future—a future filled with new beginnings, growth, and the endless possibilities of this second chance at life.
Two Births invites viewers to embark on a personal journey of empowerment and liberation, ultimately found through new Motherhood.”
Reception: January 11, 2024 | 6–8 pm
George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center
1165 Angelina Street
Austin, 78702 TX
512-974-3651
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