Different artists have explored the Histories of the Afro-Latina and Afro-Caribbean Women, the one specific artist is the Firelei Baez’s paintings. She tried to explore the aspect of Afro-Latin and Afro- Caribbean. Firelei Baez’s works especially the portrait of the two daughters of the Haitian King during the revolution have been associated with how women played a central role in History. The portraits of the Modern window have explored the histories of Afro-Latina and Afro Caribbean Women.
In her paintings, Baez base investigates matters of identity construction. This is regardless of culture or geographical location; she tries to bring out a complex background of a Caribbean nature. She also works to support women from the Caribbean and Latin Women in gaining recognition and credit from the world. (Baez 2010). The main objective in her paintings is also to unite communities from the Afro Latin and Afro Caribbean people through painting drawings of past women especially those that have been forgotten in history.
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Baez mainly uses imagination and humor to create her portraits. The imaginations created by her can commune to cultures of the Caribbean people. Her workshop is filled by Caribbean flowing colors. On her paintings, Baez’s focuses on the Haitian history with portraits of Amethyste and Athenaire Christophe.
Firelei Baez portraits of the two daughters were painted with the imaginary concept since there are no photographs of the daughters of the first king of Haiti. During her sessions at the studio in the Bronx, Baez imagined how the two daughters could look like in the present world. The woman in the painting has been drawn to have sharp eyes, which according to Baez was a symbol of focus demonstrated by women in those times. The confrontational gaze of the portrait showed self-possession or full engagement with the viewer. The portrait also has symbols of resistance and self- definition. The headdress that the girl has on the portrait symbolizes the French fighting Haiti since Haiti women wore them when they fought the French army. (Cruz, 2017. The head wrap is worn also symbolizes the slavery period when the Spain territory outlawed free black women and these women were forced to wear a tignon, a headscarf. Instead of using, the headscarf as a weakness the Haiti women made the object of oppression a symbol of status, beauty, self-definition and self-care. Women all throughout the Caribbean wore the headscarf. The colors used in the portrait referenced specifically cochineal red which was used a sumptuary material. Only those who were part of a church or colonial socialite were allowed to put on such colors. The daughters of the king of Haiti were royals and their status allowed them to wear it. The economy of Haiti is represented in the portrait by use of the indigo blue color. Many Baez works have been about decontextualizing Caribbean history and making more evident it has been formative to many ideas around the world.
The motivation of the portraits was by seeing the dissonance between the present experiences in the Latin and the passed down family histories. Women of Hispanic and Caribbean roots have been forgotten in history for the great work they did, the artist is trying to bring this out and include them in history books. Firelei Baez’s portrait was a form to remind the west and the modern world of the ancient women of Latin and Caribbean by coming up with the portrait of Amethyste and Athenaire Christophe which focuses on the Haitian History. Caribbean and Latino artist have in the past worked within mainstream American Institutions to remind the west and the modern world of the forgotten Latino and Caribbean historical. A case example is the daughters of the first king and queen of Haiti who at some point had been forgotten by history, they had been exiled to Italy . H aiti gaining independence from France in 1804. The paintings by Baez are the only that exists of Amethyste and Athenaire. Ferilia Baez’s portraits serve as the only physical form of history of the greater importance of the Haitian Revolution. The artist celebrates the sisters who had faced exile during the Haitian Revolution. The artists celebrate their resilience in face of unrest during the war between Haiti and France. The resilience they showed in the face of migration. The sisters also symbolized the rising new people and culture in the New World. Another aim that the artist tries to bring out by drawing the sisters portrait is to encourage people to take serious views on what occurred during the independence throughout the Americas at that period. Therefore, the Modern Window is a series of installations by various artists. The artist's motivation of drawing the portrait was also to bring on board women who were left outside when historians talk about the lies of King Henry Christophe who happens to be the only monarch of Haiti. By drawing the paintings of the Haitian women, the artists elaborated how they played a crucial role during the Haitian Revolution. The painting helped remember women who were crucial figures in the ancient times in Haiti. The artist also recognizes the painting of Napoleon the French revolutionaries. Napoleon came to the Caribbean to have his painting drawn. (Cruz, 2017) The artists notice that Napoleon’ Wife and two daughters were missing in the painting and hence they were not market in history in the same way. The artist motivation to imagine and paint the daughters of King Henry Christophe’s daughters was a way to include them in the books of history since they have been forgotten. Baez main objective by painting the two daughters was to create space for the daughters to be present and for the viewers and learners to have a clue and access real women in that time who has efforts towards progress and what is now known to be the black joy
The portrait was also painted to draw some curiosity from the viewers and that they can easily connect with the Haitian revolution. The colors used and everything else used in the painting is a symbol of what happened during the Haitian revolution. Firelei Baez is an artist who casts cultural and regional histories into an imaginative realm. An example is her work in the drawing of the daughters of King Henry Christophe. She casts cultural histories of the Afro-Latinos and Caribbean women into the imaginative realm. The references from the pasts are drawn from the history are reconfigured to explore new possibilities. Her works also bring out Caribbean and Latino artist who has been working within American institutions. An example is the Gordon Matta Clark who is a Chilean descent but he is cited as an American artist. She also prides herself as the first Caribbean artist to have a solo show at the Warhol Museum.
In conclusion, the paintings from Baez are significant in History as some of them were neglected. Women during this time were never much considered and hence their male counterparts took more credit to wars of revolution. Therefore, the portraits by Firelei Baez serve as the only physical testament to the sister’s significance within the narrative of Haitian revolution. This portrait celebrates women in general, there resilience, in the face of atrocities and sense of belonging in the society.
References
Báez, F. (2010). The Modern Window. MoMA . Retrieved from https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5028?locale=en
Cruz, A. (2017, July 6). Firelei Báez on generosity and freedom in art. A journal of literature, art, criticism . Retrieved from http://asterixjournal.com/firelei-baez/
