Stretching across the three canvases, the measuring tape reveals the restrictive nature of a systematically racist society.
A Measure of the Psyche (Triptych) speaks to Amira Brown’s noted emphasis on depicting the Black psychological experience. In her own words, Brown claims to use “various substrates and materials from my own home and community [to] create multilayered portraits moving from the representational into the speculative and abstract.” Thus, the “found objects” in A Measure of the Psyche (Triptych) create a composition that challenges conventional understandings of the Black experience by revealing a fragmented yet organized existence. The presence of the measuring tape, alluding to the idea of measuring up to societal expectation, combined with the various shades of red, suggest a restrictive or even violent reality.
~ Lucy Siegel, Student at Bowdoin College, Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Government and Legal Studies, Center for Art Law Summer 2020 Intern.
