"Uppity: The Blacker The Berry" by Beverly Smith

60 x 85 inches, mixed media quilt, graphite, embroidery, paint, vintage fabric. --framed


Artist Note:
My quilts tend to focus on themes from the Antebellum South that address past taboos and controversial issues. My Series of Uppities” is meant to address issues of gender through the transformation of stereotypes. I view my uppity characters as a reconfigured mammy, a modern-day Aunt Jemima. She is extremely comfortable in her own skin. Dressed in leggings, her curves are there for the world to see. Her confidence is above reproach.

The offence and racial history of the word "uppity," was applied throughout the Jim Crow South to Black people who dared to climb the socioeconomic ladder.

Being raised in the South, I am quite aware of "uppity" used in a racial context. My” Uppity” series addresses and challenges traditional societal roles and issues of women's sexuality, reproductive rights, and gender equality while adding my own contemporary experiences of Blackness.

If you have ever tasted black berries straight off the vine, you know how the riper berry is much sweeter. However, there is a dual meaning here. The “the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice” also has another connotation referring to variations in skin tones and racial bias in this country.

Biography:

Beverly Smith, my creative works originate from my love of African and Southern American textiles. I choose to express myself through quilts because of their historic and functional significance. Quilts not only provide warmth and comfort, but can act as documentation of unaltered truths.

 I enjoy preserving my Southern heritage by emulating the custom of layered garment quilt tops. I am particularly interested in garments known as White Welsh Plains, created specifically for Blacks during slavery to restrict certain clothing, based on the South Carolina Act of 1735. My designs usually start with a visual expression that is a contradiction or connection to time and circumstances that provide an opportunity to give voice to the richness of the spirit of human survival. I am always searching for ways to add another dimension to my works. I continue to seek out endless opportunities to explore various topics and to express myself on many levels.

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