148

In this piece, 148 represents a recorded number of women lynched from 1886-1957 in the U.S. Records show that when lynching mobs accused a black man or woman of a crime, more often than not the mob would also hang the immediate family. The original images are of African American men and women lynching victims. I want this project to encourage you to look at one of the most horrific atrocities of racism imaginable-even if it makes you uncomfortable. I believe artists need to be at the forefront of complex issues; pushing the boundaries of exposing truth, creating understanding and acknowledging our past, present and future.  To do this, I glitched images defamiliarizing “making strange” and distancing the viewer from the original images of lynching’s.  I have constructed the elements in this installation to create a re-imagined entry point into these horrific images. Try to imagine the accuser and victim’s life before death was captured in an image.

                                                                                                                                                                                               -Jessica Edmond