Undertone #57, #48, #59

Description

Atlanta-based artist and professor Myra Greene explores race, identity, and history and frequently uses her body in her multimedia practice. In this work from her Undertone series, she explores the perception of color as an analogue for race. To make this piece, she used the ambrotype process, in which light-sensitive chemicals are poured onto a sheet of glass, then exposed in a camera and usually placed against a dark backing so that the negative image appears positive. Greene, however, made her negatives directly on sheets of glass tinted with colors extracted from the hues of varying shades of dark skin. The work, which changes according to light, viewing angle, and context, suggests the instability and illegibility of socially constructed categories of color, skin tone, and race.