Time and Carrie Mae Weems

The theme of time can be seen in several different artists' works. But why do some artists choose to represent time in their works? For some people, time is a way to convey to the world what they have been through. Memory and history can also be used as vehicles to convey time, and many artists use time as a way to write their own visual autobiography. The theme of time is something that is often seen in the works of African American artists because of the oppression that they have suffered. This has led them to try and capture that oppression in art. One artist in particular, Carrie Mae Weems, uses history as a way to covney the times that oppressed her family and specifically the oppression that is associated with a particular cultural group, African Americans. But why does she choose to capture time in this way?

Time can be linked to identity and that is exactly what Carrie Mae Weems has done in her work. Weems is a photographer who uses her camera to capture the voice of the black South. her pictures use time to confront issues of race and social inequalities. In one of her works titled "Family Pictures and Stories" she uses memory as a way to show time. She that "I was thinking not only of my family, but was trying to explore the movement of black families out of the South and into the North. My family becomes the representational vehicle that allows me to enter the larger discussion of race, class, and historical migration" (Bey). Even though her works seems to be very personal and almost autobiographical, they can also be applied to larger cultural groups, such as oppressed African Americans. Perhaps, some artists use time to heal the past and confront what they have been through and I think that this is a way for Weems to heal those wounds.

Refercence:

Bey, Dawoud. "An Interview with Carries Mae Weems". Bomb. 10, July 2009. http://blog.art21.org/2009/07/10/an-interview-with-carrie-mae-weems-by-dawoud-bey/