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acrylic gouache
Not currently on view
Gift of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters: Hassam, Speicher, Betts and Symons Funds 1992.
Howardena Pindell experimented with various forms of collage throughout her career, from her provocative works made up of hole punches in the 1970s to the dynamic curving forms of her “Autobiography” series from the early 1980s, which includes The Mint Museum’s East/West (Gardens). Pindell created the series after a severe accident in 1979 left her with short-term memory loss. The “East/West” part of “Autobiography” utilizes postcards collected during her global travels, reconfiguring images from places that she visited into compositions that recall flashes of memories, perhaps echoing the way in which the brain works to piece together information. Gardens were sources of inspiration and solace to Pindell when she encountered racism and prejudice during a trip to Japan. She wrote, “what nourished me and gave me energy was the extraordinary beauty I found in the traditional Japanese way of organizing space, images, and color, and the brief refuge of peace found in the Japanese gardens resplendent with the changes of the seasons.”
Accession Number: 1992.3
Measurements:
Copyright Information:
NEPL Mint signed NEPL 1996, no transfer
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