In her “Living2Portraits” work, expressionist artist Randiesia Fletcher tries to challenge common misconceptions about Pan-African faces. This especially applies to non-smiling expressions, and exploring concepts of culture, family, community and nationality through her oil paintings. She is bringing together works from four separate collections in her newest exhibition. It will be showcased at the Drawing Studio until early March.
The exhibition features pieces from Fletcher’s “Watching,” “Community,” “Adolescent” and “Centerpiece” collections, as well as a few additional works. There are a total of 18 pieces being shown. On Thursday, Feb. 29, Fletcher will give an artist talk in which she will discuss the history and stories behind the paintings.
Along with being a visual artist, Fletcher is also a storyteller, writer and master teaching artist with a background in anthropology. Fletcher’s art is influenced by the literary works of W.E.B. Du Bois, Claude McKay and Zora Neale Hurston.
The work she currently has on display deals with the idea of the “double consciousness” from Du Bois, which relates to how we see ourselves versus how the world views us. She said that often African American people are seen as jezebels, harlots, criminals and thugs, especially when they aren’t smiling. Fletcher has had others view her as intimidating in public situations.
“When people see that I’m not smiling or are threatened by the color of my skin, they tend to grab their purse a little harder or move away, or they pay extra attention to what I’m doing,” Fletcher said.
Her pieces sometimes are personal, reflecting people and moments in her life. She also depicts more universal situations of people standing in line, attending a party or eating a meal together.
“I just tell our stories, what we look like, and who we are as human beings,” Fletcher said.
Her collection “Watching” is about the need to be conscious of what is going on around us.
The “Community” collection looks at concepts such as how people present themselves and are perceived as community members; how events in the 1920s are reminiscent of those happening in the 2020s and how people are individuals and don’t always fit into a melting pot. For one piece focused around the concept of fellowship, Fletcher reflected on the idea of sharing a meal with others.
“If we were sitting down communing with each other over a meal, you would drink the water that I present to you. You would eat my collard greens, and I would eat your sweet potatoes, and we would be able to dialogue on an intimate level,” Fletcher said.
Although she mainly uses oil paint as her medium, Fletcher did incorporate ashes into one of her pieces in this collection.
“‘The Unrest’ has some ash in it to represent the ashes that are burning when we don’t come to a peaceful resolution in society,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher often connects her visual works to gardening. At her home, she grows her own vegetables and raises goats. In the “Community” collection, she connects growing food with larger societal issues.
“If I put collard green seeds in the ground, collard greens are going to grow. Whatever seeds that we plant, that’s what’s going to grow. So, if we’re planting seeds of dissension, then we’re going to grow plants of dissention,” Fletcher said.
The “Adolescent” collection looks at how Pan-African people often lose their innocence at young ages and are treated as adults when they are adolescents. In one painting, she depicts a boy with his cat. This work makes her think of Tamir Rice, who was killed by police while holding a toy gun. She herself grew up in LA in the Skid Row slums and had to face adult situations at a young age. Her parents suffered from substance abuse disorder.
“We’re just pushed into a more mature situation than we need to be instead of just allowing us to be. I grew up too fast. I grew up homeless, and I started paying rent and watching drug activity and robberies,” Fletcher said.
Another piece in the collection looks at how in the 1940s and 1950s, her grandma watched the flames of riots. Fletcher said that different generations are seeing similar “flames.” Fletcher experienced the Rodney King Riots as a teen, and her children were witness to the protests and violence after George Floyd’s death.
The last collection “Centerpiece” delves into the importance of how we present ourselves to others as individuals. She said with the four collections, she wanted to show hope that change and growth can happen while also presenting the challenges and realities that we face as individuals and community members.
“I believe in a dynamic of peace. I believe in it wholeheartedly, and I also understand the reality of watching the flames. I want to highlight that duality, that double consciousness of we live in two different understandings of how we see things and how the world sees them, what’s present and what it can be. I want to highlight that. That’s my overarching theme of showing it’s possible, but will we permit it?” Fletcher said.
Fletcher and her husband Herman Harris Jr., a digital artist, work as consultants, advising on strategic planning for business and personal uses. They help to teach others how to be more inclusive and interact with a diversity of individuals in different settings.
“It’s an opportunity for you to let us teach you instead of you being threatened by us,” Fletcher said.
Both Fletcher and Harris have been through a lot in their lives, and they both try to help others who are also going through tough situations. They do a podcast together where they interview people about trauma.
They are also both disabled veterans. Fletcher suffers from PTSD. While serving in the Marine Corps, she experienced racial discrimination and sexual assault. She is open about her experience because she hopes to help other women going through similar situations.
“That’s very important to me to assist other people who struggle with trauma while in the service,” Fletcher said.
The arts have always been a way for Fletcher to process everything she is experiencing and feeling. During her adolescence, writing and painting were especially important in her life.
“We were homeless. We were on Skid Row for a long time. I used painting and writing as a form of creating a reality that was much different than what was presented… It was mental health therapy for me. There was no counselor I was seeing. It was me riding it out and exposing the truth about who I was in my life and what I was feeling,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher hopes to provide a similar outlet for others. Every second Tuesday, she hosts “Painterpretations” art therapy classes, in which participants are asked to create art and write pieces. Often, through these works, they are able to share their emotions and their personal traumas.
“I tell people you can come with your old ashes. You can come with your old makeup. You can come with your pen and line paper. You can come in with your colored pencils, with your broken Crayolas. The goal is for you to write out that emotion you’re feeling about whatever topic we’re talking about. We write it out, and we draw something or paint something. I get a variety of paintings, drawings, sketches, back of an envelope, a piece of cardboard… I do a lot of interpretations of things, leaves on paper,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher said that many students reach out to her directly to share their personal stories with her.
“People are literally crying because they never knew they could release this, or they never told this to anyone. I get so many stories that I have to take a break for myself after class. I get so many people who talk about their rape or their incest. I get a lot of things that people place it in my hands and say, ‘Hold this.’ They send me the picture and say, ‘I feel better now,’” Fletcher said.
Randiesia Fletcher’s Art Exhibition 2024
WHEN: Through early March. Artist talk 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 29
WHERE: The Drawing Studio, 2760 N. Tucson Boulevard, Tucson
COST: Free admission
INFO: 520-620-0947
www.thedrawingstudiotds.org, www.harrisfletcher.com
This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2024.