Song of the Caged Bird

By Sarah Boone

The jazz scene.  Harlem, New York.  In a fusion of brass and bass that would redefine the art of music, a new universal dream was being nurtured.  This dream is the freedom of expression; the freedom to vocally, visually and spiritually break free of the classic arts and to improvise in all manner of expression.  Free as a bird and filled with just as much song, the black performers of Harlem took it upon themselves to show the world that even if prejudice still existed, music could be their liberator.  Freedom through song is something that still holds sway in many regions of the world, and certainly resonates within me, letting me see the world in a new light.  This is what I attempted to convey through my portrait of the Harlem jazz singer.  The songs that had brought communities together under the harsh conditions of slavery, and had made the work and hard times tolerable, were now being voiced with a new passion, as they represented the way that freedom had been won.  When I first began this piece, my inspiration was the image of a black dove;.  I flew with this decision and created the trumpet player as the creator of “black peach” and freedom.  He is announcing the time of the black race, calling the attention of the world.  The trumpet, being accented in gold, represents the "Golden Age" of African American creativity.  Aside from the celebration of freedom that the renaissance brought forth, another theme I attempted to bring out more subtly was “Crossing Borders.”  Then to acknowledge the abstract quality of Harlem painters, I took advantage of the geometric circle motifs in white, black and grey to convey the social pattern of mixing.  I included a few bars of musical notation from the time period in between to imply the message that the white and black cultures came together “through” music.  The song choice is a jazz tune called “Now is the Time.”  I found this particularly appropriate as some of the lyrics sing,

“I never thought he’d be, so awfully close to me, until I heard the message and it up and set me free… ‘Bird’ came to New York and he blew, my how he blew!”

 I chose oils because of their boldness and their timelessness.  Whether in rich color or black and white, oils continue to be my favorite medium for the complete spectrum of image “movement” (versatility) that they allow.  Historically, oils were also a popular medium with the Harlem artists.