{"object":[{"sourceId":{"label":"Source ID","value":"2515"},"copyright":{"label":"Copyright","value":"Copyright for this work is under review."},"creditline":{"label":"Credit Line","value":"Blanchard-Hill Collection, gift of M. Anne Hill and Edward V. Blanchard, Jr."},"endDate":{"label":"End Date","value":"1994"},"sortNumber":{"label":"Sort Number","value":"1998    10   24"},"invno":{"label":"Accession number","value":"1998.10.24"},"medium":{"label":"Medium","value":"Paint on wood with wood putty, shells, and marbles"},"geographyPlaceregion":{"label":"Place/Region","value":"Alcoa"},"media":{"label":"Media","value":{"mediaURL":"https://collection.folkartmuseum.org/internal/media/dispatcher/3169/full","mediaDepartment":"Object Photographs","mediaType":"Image","mediaId":"3169"}},"title":{"label":"Title","value":"Faces of Africa I"},"geographyCity":{"value":"Alcoa"},"textEntriesWebsitedisplaytext":{"value":["In this work, Bessie Harvey proved herself a master of sculptural economy. Simply by tipping a slice of tree on its side so that stray branches became limbs and then spray-painting the entirety black, the artist imbued the timber with a human presence. Then, again with great restraint, Harvey added minimal wood putty for facial features and enhanced the limbs with white shells and marbles, bringing the creature closer to life. This simple and elegant sculpture is one of Harvey\u2019s finest.Faces of Africa I is the first of a suite of three sculptures created in the last year of the artist\u2019s life. Truly at the height of her ability and clearly quite skilled with indigenous materials, Harvey demonstrates the refinement of her artistry. This sculpture also declares the artist\u2019s primary motivation in her artmaking, which was to free the spirits and souls she felt were captured in trees. As she said, \u201cI have a feeling for Africa. I see African people in the trees and in the roots. I talk to the trees. There\u2019s souls in the branches and roots. I frees them.\u201dWhile her art allowed Harvey to free souls from trees, it also freed her from some personal anguish. Harvey began her artistic endeavors in the 1970s, when she was middle-aged. She was raising eleven kids from two marriages and struggling with single parenthood. Sculpting proved very therapeutic. The work with trees connects her to other African American artists\u2014many of whom used roots, branches, and trees as their primary artistic medium\u2014and to her African heritage. Roots have a transformative purpose in many African cultures, where they figure importantly in healing, medicine, and related lore. It seems not too great a leap to observe that self-taught African-American artists employ roots in an effort to heal and to transform. Brooke Davis Anderson, \"Faces of Africa I,\" in Stacy C. Hollander, American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 401.Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.　To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org","SCULPTURE"]},"collections":{"label":"Collections","value":"Three Dimensional Works"},"geography":{"label":"Geography","value":"Alcoa"},"id":{"label":"Id","value":"153929"},"geographyState":{"value":"Tennessee"},"geographyCountry":{"value":"United States"},"onview":{"label":"On View","value":"0"},"people":{"label":"Artist / Maker","value":{"displayOrder":"1","personRole":"Artist","personID":"184","content":"Bessie Harvey"}},"classifications":{"label":"Classification(s)","value":"Sculpture"},"textEntries":{"label":"Text Entries","value":["In this work, Bessie Harvey proved herself a master of sculptural economy. Simply by tipping a slice of tree on its side so that stray branches became limbs and then spray-painting the entirety black, the artist imbued the timber with a human presence. Then, again with great restraint, Harvey added minimal wood putty for facial features and enhanced the limbs with white shells and marbles, bringing the creature closer to life. This simple and elegant sculpture is one of Harvey\u2019s finest.Faces of Africa I is the first of a suite of three sculptures created in the last year of the artist\u2019s life. Truly at the height of her ability and clearly quite skilled with indigenous materials, Harvey demonstrates the refinement of her artistry. This sculpture also declares the artist\u2019s primary motivation in her artmaking, which was to free the spirits and souls she felt were captured in trees. As she said, \u201cI have a feeling for Africa. I see African people in the trees and in the roots. I talk to the trees. There\u2019s souls in the branches and roots. I frees them.\u201dWhile her art allowed Harvey to free souls from trees, it also freed her from some personal anguish. Harvey began her artistic endeavors in the 1970s, when she was middle-aged. She was raising eleven kids from two marriages and struggling with single parenthood. Sculpting proved very therapeutic. The work with trees connects her to other African American artists\u2014many of whom used roots, branches, and trees as their primary artistic medium\u2014and to her African heritage. Roots have a transformative purpose in many African cultures, where they figure importantly in healing, medicine, and related lore. It seems not too great a leap to observe that self-taught African-American artists employ roots in an effort to heal and to transform. Brooke Davis Anderson, \"Faces of Africa I,\" in Stacy C. Hollander, American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 401.Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.　To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org","SCULPTURE"]},"beginDate":{"label":"Begin Date","value":"1994"},"displayDate":{"label":"Date","value":"1994"},"exhibitions":{"label":"Exhibitions","value":[{"exhibitionDisplayDate":"Friday, March 17, 2023 - Sunday, October 29, 2023","exhibitionEndISODate":"2023-10-29","exhibitionID":"249","exhibitionISOBeginDate":"2023-03-17","exhibitionBeginDate":"2023","exhibitionTitle":"Material Witness","exhibitionEndDate":"2023"},{"exhibitionDisplayDate":"Thursday, July 11, 2002 - Sunday, January 5, 2003","exhibitionEndISODate":"2003-01-26","exhibitionID":"73","exhibitionISOBeginDate":"2002-07-11","exhibitionBeginDate":"2002","exhibitionTitle":"American Anthem","exhibitionEndDate":"2003"}]},"dimensions":{"label":"Dimensions","value":"32 x 25 x 13 \""}}]}