Monique Reneé Harris
HEAD IN THE GRASS
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: This digital collage has a close-up photo of a grassy lawn as a background. The blades of grass are dark green, as if in shadow and not in sunlight. In the center of the grass is a transparent oval face with gray oval eyes, nostrils, and mouth. The top of the head is exposed, revealing a translucent brain. On both sides of the lower half of the head are two stylized legs splayed out like the legs of a dissected frog. The colors are a psychedelic swirl of purple, green, orange, black, and yellow. Encircling the sides and the top of the head are two stylized legs of the same shape as the lower ones but in psychedelic black, white, and gray swirls.
REKEYED BODY
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: This digital collage is a triptych. The triptych has three rectangular panels, each displaying different aspects of a silhouette of a woman’s body, standing with her hands at her sides. The backgrounds of each panel contain the same objects: an hourglass, a bell, a key, stars, and bubbles, but they are shown in different colors. The first panel is in black, white, and gray, as well as the figure. The second panel with a purple key is somber brown, with the figure disintegrating into orange petals. The final panel is brightly colored in gold and copper, as well as the figure. The panels descend a notch against an orange background from left to right. The overall effect is celebration and time passing, like New Year’s Day.
Artist statement:
I show pride in my disabled body by reimagining it. As a Black woman born with spastic cerebral palsy, I lack full use of my hands and legs but have perfect control of my head. As a result, I use a head wand to create digital graphic surrealist collages of female mannequin body parts--heads and torsos, arms and legs, hands and feet--redefining beauty as a Woman of Color who lacks complete control of her limbs.