Throughout many of Polite’s works, she investigates “black” and its associations to get a closer understanding of what it means to be Black and the experiences that come with it. She also focuses on topics regarding gender constructs, cultural identity, colonialism/tourism recreation pollution, and the construct of the idea of reality.
In the Aesthetic Cannon, Polite uses the repeated symbols of different Venuses to address symbols, stereotypes, and ideologies of what it means to be a woman, what it means to be the “ideal woman”, and the function of women. These pieces, each named after the women/ideas encompassed in them, represent an ideology or perpetuated facet of womanhood throughout different time periods. They combine to create a large mind map or investigation board to create a conversation between each other, to trace ideas, and attempt addressing the questions posed about women.
In order to address the topics, Polite references images/iconography from art history, pop culture, and social media ranging from ancient art history to contemporary times and weaves it into a collage to layer the different complexities of womanhood and it's representation throughout history. This body of work will be mixed media upon black gallery wall. Throughout Polite's works, the black background is used as a mode of subverting from the pristine white male tradition of the gallery space and is used as space to represent the oppressed and minorities like women.
What are the stigmas and stereotypes associated with each woman or Venus? Do they follow or shape our culture and what are their archetypes? Being a Black woman, she also wants to discover how Black and Brown women fit into these complex Eurocentric ideations and the effects of their perpetuation. In order to understand the stereotypes, hierarchy, and roles placed on women, and more specifically Black and Brown women, one must view them in the context of society’s ideals throughout history.
In the Aesthetic Cannon, Polite uses the repeated symbols of different Venuses to address symbols, stereotypes, and ideologies of what it means to be a woman, what it means to be the “ideal woman”, and the function of women. These pieces, each named after the women/ideas encompassed in them, represent an ideology or perpetuated facet of womanhood throughout different time periods. They combine to create a large mind map or investigation board to create a conversation between each other, to trace ideas, and attempt addressing the questions posed about women.
In order to address the topics, Polite references images/iconography from art history, pop culture, and social media ranging from ancient art history to contemporary times and weaves it into a collage to layer the different complexities of womanhood and it's representation throughout history. This body of work will be mixed media upon black gallery wall. Throughout Polite's works, the black background is used as a mode of subverting from the pristine white male tradition of the gallery space and is used as space to represent the oppressed and minorities like women.
What are the stigmas and stereotypes associated with each woman or Venus? Do they follow or shape our culture and what are their archetypes? Being a Black woman, she also wants to discover how Black and Brown women fit into these complex Eurocentric ideations and the effects of their perpetuation. In order to understand the stereotypes, hierarchy, and roles placed on women, and more specifically Black and Brown women, one must view them in the context of society’s ideals throughout history.
Multimedia collage installation
Multimedia collage installation
Multimedia collage installation
