Antonette

Deana Lawson uses a large format camera to create portraits that are large-scale and yet capture the intimacy of a domestic encounter. Antonette, a portrait of a seminude woman with a sleeping baby, reflects Lawson’s ongoing exploration of matriarchal lineage and family bonds. Key to Lawson’s portraits is a collaboration with her sitter, whom she often depicts in domestic spaces in which they live. Lawson is drawn to somewhat cramped interiors such as this one that include a multitude of vibrant patterns, a rich array of textures, and the cherished but unidealized details of family life. The oppositional gaze with which Antonette confronts the viewer points to the artist’s awareness of the power dynamics inherent to the medium, even as she reveals herself as its maker in a reflection in the upper left corner of the frame. Transforming an informal family snapshot into a monumental portrait, Lawson celebrates and affirms the beauty of ordinary Black life and asks the viewer to witness and appreciate the qualities that make it unique.