Art by Lori Isom

 14x18 (framed) mixed media and collage 

 20x16, acrylic on canvas 

 24x18 Acrylic on Canvas

 14x11, acrylic on canvas 

   14x18 (framed) charcoal on toned paper  

  24x48, acrylic on canvas 

 28x22, acrylic on canvas 

 14x11, acrylic on canvas 

 18x24, acrylic on canvas 

 By the time we've lived a good part of our lives, the moment comes, for most of us, when we begin to ask ourselves one of the most important questions of our life experience: "Who am I?". That question was the inspiration for this painting that depicts a woman in the midst of discovering herself. Her flowing dredlocs in cool muted tones represent movement and the butterfly motif depicts transformation and freedom.  

Cotton was hugely successful as one of the first crops harvested in early South Carolina history. This success was driven by the unceasing labor of human beings whose lives were stolen from them in order to satisfy the burgeoning demand of agricultural goods. The woman represents a descendant of the enslaved people who cultivated the crop. However, she is reclaiming the dignity, significance and strength of her ancestors by transforming the picked cotton into a crown. 

Courage is the ability to keep lifting oneself up in the face of adversity. The woman in this piece holds her head high taking a stance of defiance and pride. She stands in a multicolored field, each color symbolizing the African journey: blue for the water that the slave ships travelled through, red (blood), black (skin) and green (land) the colors of the panafrican flag, and gold for Carolina gold - the name that was given to this most treasured crop that was brought over from West Africa. I

 I found the story of the determined young Eliza Pinkney intriguing, as well as her relationship to the enslaved people who helped her pursue her quest to develop the complex technique for producing indigo. I wanted to create a portrait of her in the style of one that would have been painted in her era. The frame had to complete the story.

 In the south, tobacco leaves were used as currency for the purchase of indentured and enslaved people to help cultivate the crop. In this painting, the woman wears an ornamental piece, perhaps for fashion or ceremony, made of the very object which was previously symbolic of forced labor, oppression and greed. 

This female chief, ruled over the land known as Cofitachequi, now known as Camden, South Carolina. When the Spanish explorers invaded the native's territory, exploiting, looting and essentially holding their chief, hostage. She’s presented in three images - looking out at the viewer as a self possessed woman leader, the second image depicts introspection and the third an upward gaze seeking something larger outside of herself. 

This painting tells the story of a young girl of mixed heritage as a result of the union between a slave and slaveholder. The foreground depicts the European home she resides in and is well provided for, whereas the background, seen behind the wallpaper which is peeled away, reveals her African lineage by way of Barbados.