Dr. Myrah Brown Green is an accomplished educator, writer, curator and a professional quiltmaker with works exploring the lived experience of Black women in today’s society.
Her current exhibit “Talking Quilts,” on display at the Richard Beavers Gallery in Brooklyn, invites art goers to take a look at Black women as guardian angels. Green often alludes to spirituality—strategically placing objects that speak to a higher omniscient knowledge with cultural elements in her works.
“In my work, the figurative devolves into the abstract. People appear without their distinguishing facial features, inviting viewers to see themselves or those they know within the context of the work,” said Green. “Seemingly disparate objects, such as wings or African cowry shells, manifest deeper emotions or states of consciousness in the form of visual metaphors.”
Green is originally from Cambridge, Massachusetts. She fell in love with the arts as a child, spending countless hours creating at the local community center and art institutions in her hometown. As a young adult she moved to Brooklyn to attend the prestigious Pratt Institute, and later received her doctorate in interdisciplinary studies with a focus in world symbols.
Green’s quilts are in a number of high-profile collections, including the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum in Washington, D.C. She also wrote an award-winning book,“Brooklyn on My Mind: Black Artists from the WPA to the Present,” released in 2018.
Green said her work is “subverting the utilitarian nature” of blankets and has developed innovative ways of experiencing textiles. Every detail, pattern, and object in her work is deliberately there to enhance stories, she said.
“Over the past ten years, I have devoted much of my time assisting artists of color document and archive their personal artwork and private collections,” said Green.
Green’s “Talking Quilts” exhibit is on display at the Richard Beavers Gallery from August 26, 2023, to October 7, 2023.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
