For contemporary weaver Diedrick Bracken, the figural silhouette is an invitation to the viewer to i
For contemporary weaver Diedrick Bracken, the figural silhouette is an invitation to the viewer to imagine themselves within the composition. In When No Softness Came, a white horse spirits away a supine figure with long and heavy limbs. Responding, in part, to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and the hypervisibility of black death, Brackens sought alternative ways of understanding black bodies through acts of leisure and repose. “The weavings I make often ask questions about violence and seek to answer my own questions about what tenderness looks like,” says the artist. Tenderness here is underscored by the haptics of the weaving process. Loose threads, knots, and frayed ends call out to be touched in a gesture that mirrors acts of intimacy and care. “As much as you’re acting on this machine [the loom], it’s acting on you too,” Brackens explains. “But there’s so much room to coax out these emotive qualities and lines and gestures from these simple yarns.” What if you could just let go? Who or what would carry you? Where does softness show up in your life?In the final weeks of 2020, we’re taking time to find comfort, hope, and healing with artworks in the Museum’s collection. Posted by Dalilah ScruggsDiedrick Brackens (American, born 1989). when no softness came, 2019. Cotton and acrylic yarn. Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by The LIFEWTR Fund at Frieze New York 2019, 2019.12. © artist or artist’s estate (Photo: Image courtesy Various Small Fires LA) -- source link
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