Constellations

Howardena Pindell American
Publisher Center for Contemporary Printmaking

Not on view

Rather than striving for pure non-objectivity, Pindell combines abstraction with patterns and decorative elements such as numbers, arrows, and other personal references that reflect her influences (such as African art), life experiences, and political activism. Forms associated with Minimalist and Post-Minimalist art, such as grids and numbers, become endowed with personal meaning, as her father was a mathematician. Constellations was inspired by Pindell’s fascination with star charts and astrological maps. She began working with circles, dots, arrows, and vectors in the early 1970s. The arrows and vectors here suggest multiple, often contradictory directions and, by association, meanings. The circular form, a recurring shape in Pindell’s oeuvre, refers to the ability to shift negative experiences into something positive.

Constellations, Howardena Pindell (American, born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1943), Open bite etching

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