“Bluest”

20 x 20in Art Quality Print

“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison was powerful novel. I was immersed in the complexities of young womanhood, beauty, and futurism while reading this book. I wanted to show a visual representation of my own view on "The Bluest Eye." This novel, like many other novels from black authors, go unsung, unheard of, and creating pieces centered around black authors are intentional. In hopes of shining light on our stories, our complexities, our histories, and a look into our futures.  I used the “Girl with a Pearl Earring” by Johannes Vermeer (1665) as a muse to represent the theme of beauty in the novel. A piece of the classic portrait is seen peering through the right side of her face. Wishing she had the bluest of eyes to be deemed "beautiful" little did she know, her dark complexion, full lips, dark eyes were already enough. Her features are breathtakingly beautiful. The marigolds are juxtaposed to her to represent the motif of marigolds in the novel but to also correlate to our black stories. Our stories will survive and grow just like the marigolds in the piece. 

Orange, blue, black woman painting, classic painting, painting with marigolds, bluest eye painting, toni morrison, the girl with a pearl earring.