Inner Child: Jennifer Mack-Watkins’s dolls create and hold space
“I think the safest place is space because no one can say what you can and cannot do when you are in this mental place of space.”
Holding space is how artist Jennifer Mack-Watkins describes her show “Children of the Sun: In Orbit,” on exhibit at the Main Gallery at Sulfur Studios, from May 5-June 24.
Children are storytellers. They use their drawings and toys to tell stories for themselves and each other. As children grow into adults, they sometimes lose that ability to tell stories through things besides spoken or written words. Mack-Watkins dolls tap into that childlike wonder of creation while also reminding us that there is always more to a story.
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This will be the first time this particular collection from Mack-Watkins has been exhibited outside of the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Brattleboro, Vermont. It will also include a few new studies.
The title “Children of the Sun” is a nod to a 1920s children’s periodical edited by W.E.B. Du Bois, the first periodical specifically for Black children, but the works themselves are also inspired by Vermont storyteller Daisy Turner. Each silkscreen and lithograph doll on a background of stars has a name that invites the viewer to look beyond what they see with their eyes and look at what they can see in America’s history.
“I'm able to use space as a mental place where imagination is embraced,” said Mack-Watkins. “I feel like Black imagination is really unique. As African American creatives, artists, people, children, women ― however you identify; we have to not only think about making the world a better place to make an impact, but we also have to deal with the social impact, stereotypes, biases that exist within the world we live in as well to make a beautiful place through art and through our work.”
Mack-Watkins’ dolls are seen floating in limitless space much like a child’s imagination. Through her work, she holds space for each child, not only current children but also inner children, to recreate the world around them similar to how the historic people whose names she chose to associate with each piece also recreated the world around them.
“I try to find names of people who are inspiring me, who are into sciences and who are into the humanities and into arts that have made an impact.”
A new addition to the exhibit will be a digital component with Savannah artist Will Penny.
“I haven't done any digital work before with my work, so I'm looking forward to working with Will Penny to collaborate.”
The opening reception will be Friday, May 5, from 5 to 9 p.m. There will also be a public discussion with Mack-Watkins at 2 p.m. on and a children’s book reading at 2 p.m., on June 10.
If You Go >>
“Children of the Sun: In Orbit” by Jennifer Mack-Watkins
When: May 5-June 24
Where: The Main Gallery at Sulfur Studio, 2301 Bull St.
Info: ArtsSoutheast.org and JenniferMWatkins.com
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Jennifer Mack-Watkins Children of the Sun opens May 5 at Sulfur Studios
