by DaMea Hughes
Jadah Alford was born in Bamberg, Germany and moved to Hinesville, Georgia when she was four years old. She uses features such as the Holocaust and issues and or characteristics dealing with social, political and emotional aspects such as gender and sexuality and what comes along with it and how it can be interpreted by the audience.
I began by asking the artist to describe her art before she began to flourish into the artist she is today. She illustrated her work as being “stiff and unbalanced, having no sense of purpose, really just task oriented.” The artist felt as if the work she was composing was “boring to the extent of knowing I have more potential” she went on to say. Her previous works consisted of graffiting elements, facial features and “50 cent tattoos.” Alford now narrates her artwork as being “ more free, fluid, semi-realistic with cartoon elements, direct and meaningful.” She now believes that her art has transcended into having a purpose and trying to connect with the audience and make connections with the people who have not been depicted or represented enough in life such as the LGBTQ+ community. Her goal for her artwork is to deliver a message and help the world observe her vision.
Focusing on the history directly linked to the LGBTQ+ community, Alford illlustrates Paragraph 175. The piece is a charcoal drawing of the people in the Holocaust along a wired post. The artist has embellished them wearing striped jumpsuits ranging in shades of light and dark values. They have an upside down triangle patch with the word “HUMAN” also patched underneath with lighter values to show differentiation. The “heads” of the people are triangle constructs with a focal point of a pink felt triangle lined with gold thread. When asked for her reasoning behind the piece, Alford discussed that, “it was a lesson in history that wasn’t discussed or thoroughly talked about so I wanted to teach people a part of history they may not know about and that their history is just as important as others and should be taught in other classes. Due to having ties with Germany, Alford wanted to depict the pink triangle the Nazis used to label homosexuals in the concentration camps in a new light to show their empowerment and strength.
Blue exudes a revelation of comfort and safety. Composed in soft blue and white pastels, a sense of solidarity is extracted.In the artwork you have the vision of two blue characters comforting one another. The figure on the left is a darker toned blue with a wardrobe closet closed as the head. The figure to the right that is holding the other displays itself as a softer blue with the closet doors open with a smaller figure sitting inside. The artist uses very gentle strokes and blending techniques to display a welcoming atmosphere. The artist used the ‘skeletons in the closet’ aspect when depicting this work but in a “being able to open up and become great” no matter the situation such as being closeted or not.
Alford has three relief prints in her exhibition. They are titled Pussy Print, Freedom Reach and The Closet. To be frank, Pussy Print is exactly what it’s titled as. The artist uses shades of pink, red, tan and white to depict various skin tones that can be seen on or in the genitalia. Freedom Reach portrays as black and white and illustrates a hand being constrained by a chain labeled “closet” trying to reach for a doorknob. The Closet illustrates a wood-like post that signifies the closet with a half black, half white crowned figure under with garments carved in the background with the words “your secret is safe with me” gleaming from the darkness of the closet. While doing the relief process, Alford said “while carving away the layers it revealed something new which relates to me because I keep revealing myself to be free and break through”.
Keeping up with the triangle motif, Pink Triangle Kisses illustrates shades of pink and purple oil painted triangles arranged into female anatomy with light shades of white and blue subtly in between the two meetings. The artists’ Reflections depicts two winged figures on sides of a mirror, the left being a black figure with shades of red and the right being a lighter figure with blues and lighter values. The artist wanted this to represent that they are still part of each other and used triangles on the arm for that purpose as well.
Jadah Alford concludes her presentation with her gameboard named The Closet Board Game. The profile for the game resembles the black and white figure from her artpiece The Closet. Alford feels that this is one of her most successful pieces because she had to put more thought and personal experiences into creating it in which she hopes others can connect and feel safe while playing and “possibly be used for coming out.”
From the artworks presented, Alford’s message of empowerment, identity and inclusion are apparent, well illustrated and represented.
DaMea Hughes is a Junior obtaining a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Art at Valdosta State University.