Tomashi Jackson, ‘Ecology of Fear (Abrams for Governor of Georgia) (Negro Women wait to congratulate LBJ)’, (2020)
Tomashi Jackson is a painter and paint maker who deals with the issue of “displacement and disenfranchisement of Black and Brown communities”. She covers several critical events in the U.S history, such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the involvement of women in the U.S election, and church bombing in Georgia. Currently, she is also interested in Greece as the origin place of democracy and tracing how the right to vote is often spread slowly and painfully in various periods and places.
Ecology of Fear (Abrams for Governor of Georgia) (Negro Women wait to congratulate LBJ) by Tomashi Jackson, is a mixed media work, made of layers of papers, prints, acrylic paint, American election fliers, Greek ballot papers, paper bags, and muslin. This work uses various colors from pink to blue, that refers to the various races in the U.S. Red and blue papers on the face of the image symbolizes the dominant political parties in the U.S.
The title of the work at least refers to two historical events, Stacey Abram as the first black woman who gains major U.S. party nomination for governor of Georgia (2018), and the signing of the Voting Rights Act by President Lydon Baines Johnson (1965). This Act is guaranteeing African Americans’ right to vote.
The Ecology of Fear is also related to Tomashi Jackson’s concern about a long history of voter suppression. In the Love Rollercoaster exhibition at the Wexner Center of the Arts in Ohio (2020), she also presents five new paintings about voter disenfranchisement and suppression in Ohio’s Black communities.
Tomashi Jackson, Whitney Biennial 2019
Tomashi Jackson’s artwork has significant relevance to society, especially because it can connect critical events in history with the current moments. It can evoke a depth-reflection and dialogue about human rights and the marginalization of Black and Brown communities, not only in the U.S but in many other countries as well.
Tomashi Jackson | Whitney Biennial 2019
