Front of the Bus (Portrait of Rosa Parks)
- Buttons, beads, imitation sinew, found objects, chicken wire, wire and spray paint
- 32 x 22.5 x 1 in
- Lisa Kokin
Artist’s Statement: This artwork is one of a series of portraits of Americans whose actions for social justice helped create a better life for people of color and working people in the United States. Rosa Parks (1913-2005) refused to sit in the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, thereby starting the civil rights movement.
I “paint” with the buttons, picking and choosing colors, shapes, and sizes in order to create a portrait which is not necessarily an exact likeness, but which evokes the spirit of each person. My portrait of Parks contains many elements including a bus token, some buttons in the shape of buses, a wooden puzzle piece in the shape of the state of Alabama, many sewing notions in homage to her work as a seamstress, and political buttons from the civil rights movement.
- Created: 2006
- Current Location: Juvenile Justice Center - 2500 Fairmont Drive San Leandro, CA 94578 (google map)
- Collections: Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center (San Leandro)
Alameda County Arts Commission
https://arts.acgov.org/
All artwork copyright the artists. All rights reserved.
Powered by Artwork Archive