...among the blades between the flowers... while the horse watches... for those who bear/bare witness

Label Text

Jamaican artist Ebony G. Patterson's glorious work, . . .among the blades between the flowers employs a panoply of colorful, glittery, mass-produced objects in the form of a textile to explore, as she describes it, "the idea of gardens, both real an imagined, and their relationship to postcolonoial spaces." While at first the gardens might be thought of as benign, Patterson reminds us that they are markers of class, privilege, and power. Five headless figures, dressed in 18th century finery, seamlesly blend in with the lush ornamental garden flowers to suggest that the garden is a space where one can bear witness to the colonial past and its lasting impact today. This is the first work by Patterson to enter the collections.

Source: News, Apy May Jun 2019

DimensionsOverall: 130 × 175 in. (330.2 × 444.5 cm)
Overall: 10.8 × 14.6 ft. (3.3 × 4.5 m.)

Accession Number 2019.3.a-.c

Classificationssculpture

CopyrightContact monique@moniquemeloche.com

ProvenanceArtist; (Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago); Des Moines Art Center [purchased from the previous, 2019]

Images (2)

Image Not Available

Audio (1)

DSM Speaks Audio Tour with Dwana Bradley, Community Member

Audio Transcript

DSM Speaks Audio Tour with Dwana Bradley, Community Member

Run Time: 51 seconds

Recorded by Dwana Bradley, CultureALL Community Ambassador / 2023

Flowers of many colors, glitz, glamour, interconnectedness, set on a background of royalty being one with nature, and the connection we have to the fields and the richness it brought to a nation, but what is left when the faces are gone. The fruits of our labor that we never received, or the strength it exudes in our soul to make it through anything which comes our way, because together they blend, they are unique, they are beautiful and it tells the story of us in only a way that we can tell, that we can relate to, and that we understand. Uniquely exquisite in every way, we shine, we are bold, and we stand through the test of time with the wingspan of our ancestors looking down on us from above.

DES MOINES SPEAKS

DSM Speaks are short audio reflections on artwork in our permanent collection, written and voiced by diverse members of our community. Contributors to this program were selected in partnership with CultureALL and the Des Moines Art Center. We hope by elevating these diverse ways of seeing we can encourage all visitors to connect more deeply and to see themselves and their identities within our walls.