Sandra Oei, United States
Celebration / Freedom / Imagination
Book board, matte, and decorative papers, original photography, inkjet printing, vellum, embossing powders, guinea hen feathers, shells, sand, original photography, photo image manipulation.
Livre cartonné, papiers mats et décoratifs, photographie originale, impression jets d’encre, vélin, poudres d’impression, plumes de pintade, coquilles, sable, photographie originale, manipulation des images.
20.3 x 24.1 x 1.3 cm
2007
Artists' Books / Livre d'artiste
Artist's Statement:
This project came about when I was reading a short historical biography on Phillis Wheatley, the first generation African-American to be published in the United States, during the Revolutionary War period. I wanted to know more about her but found very little except that at approximately seven years old she was captured in The Gambia/Africa as a slave, was taught to read and write by the Wheatley Family (where she was in bondage)… and then in a “proper” New England style, began writing poetry by the age of fourteen year, and then published by the age of eighteen years. With a lot of controversy surrounding her “authenticity”, I then began to imagine how she would have so much enjoyed having her real family know about her whereabouts, and celebrate her freedom and success.