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Artist Florine Demosthene’s aesthetic has evolved, in part, from the restless nature of her practice. Over the past decade, the Haitian artist has produced art from locales such as New York (where she grew up), St Croix in the Caribbean, Ghana, South Africa and Benin.
It was in St Croix, for instance, while trying to give voice to her disgust for the disorienting Jim Crow politics that characterise aspects of the island’s life, that she came upon the idea to reference her physique in her work. The resulting work became The Capture, in which a figure tethered to a pier appears to float in grey skies or under foggy water. An inscription in block letters, obscured by the large figure, reads something to the effect of: “You have to go because I don’t want to see your face in front of the white people.”
The work was inspired by a segregated beach. Charcoal and ink splotches make the image gloomy and grey.
Demosthene has worked in a similar style for several years.
“You look at someone like Frida Kahlo; her work has been mostly about her life,” she says. “I have been reluctant, as a black woman, of diving into that pool. That pool is very murky. In a way, you are almost forced to choose a polarity and I didn’t want to choose. And then it’s my size, and my size references so much history, especially American history.”
Because of that reluctance, Demosthene tried to hone the style to create some dis-