Baker Artist Portfolios

I am deeply engaged in exploring  the impact of racially motivated acts that shaped or misshaped the social, economic, educational trajectory and wellbeing African-Americans in this country. From the paintings, The Sorrow of the Stolen Ones, The Ultimate Sorrow, Strange and Bitter Fruit, to one of my most recent works, They Found the Clotilda, I am probing and documenting the history, that I am, as a 75 year old African American, still unearthing and digesting. This project presents some of what will be an ever-evolving body work for the remainder of my time.

In each Season my work has taken on a different meaning. You are witnessing a few works throughout my varies seasons while focusing on many projects and personal work that matter to me.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cHzGZe7eUT4EnDj17
 

Dear Black Girl Part Two: The Dear Black Girl Project is an exhibition and ongoing community conversation affirming the experiences of black women. It is a visual collaboration of embroidered quotes, shared narratives, images, African textiles & found objects curated in a space designed to facilitate healthy conversations around being a black woman in the world. It affords viewers with diverse opportunities to witness the journey.

As women of color, community is the core of our existence. Consulting before decision making is the key to our success. It's not about having the right answers, but asking the right questions. This series inquires you to interrogate your thought patterns of who you are and who you have yet to become. For many of us the answer is the question and who we allow to be our number 1 consultant. This series leaves you wondering and asking questions and the beckons courage to follow the advice.

This is a new series of abstract paintings. I decided to make a pivot from my more well known work in ceramics to take time to explore new ideas and techniques I've been thinking of to abstract painting. They are heavily textured with a stalactite like surface. They elude to natural and constructed elements in nature.

A staple of American households from the 1940s onward, the orange juice glasses depicted in this watercolor series were sold in so-called “Hostess sets” that typically included a carafe or pitcher and six to eight glasses. Priced cheaply for everyday use, they sold in the millions with the two major midcentury manufacturers, Libbey based in Massachusetts, and Anchor Hocking based in Ohio, duking it out for market share. Atypical for the time and still in production today, Libbey’s whimsical designs were the byproduct of the Jewish female design team of Freda Diamond and Virginia Hamill.

In 2022 I exhibited "Fabricated Environments" at Ruby Projects Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia. Photo credit, Jillian Macmaster

What Can I say? I like Squirrels. I first became fascinated with Squirrels during my undergraduate years when I was part of a musical group, Reincarnated Squirrel. Years later you could find me as a squirrel passing out pizza, and also creating a giant outdoor sculpture of a vicious squirrel. 

For approximatley ten years I did performance art as Olivia the Sea Turtle. You could find me shopping, cooking, singing, reciting dairy entries, and dancing.