The vibrant, complicated artworks of Aminah
Lynn Robinson are as unique and engaging as the artist herself.
One might expect a woman born in 1940 to have a grandmotherly
poof of curls on her head, but Robinson’s dome is sleek and her
ears are trimmed in rows of gold hoops. The MacArthur "genius"
grant winner says she "never had any doubt in my mind about
being an artist. I had my first exhibition when I was 8-years-old.
I hung my paintings on a clothesline with pins."
GO Brooklyn spoke with Robinson at the Brooklyn Museum, where
samples of 50 years of her boundless creativity are on display
in "Symphonic Poem." Community is one of the overwhelming
themes in her art, which ranges from painting to sculpture to
needlework to elaborate, never-quite-finished pieces that she
calls "RagGonNons."
She’s been inspired by her hometown of Columbus, Ohio – and Poindexter
Village, the federally funded metropolitan housing development
where she grew up – to create several pieces that incorporate
her research into the city’s history. One such work is a festive
painting on cloth, "Life in Sellsville" (1981-82),
which is the text-and-image portrait of a long-disappeared town
settled by circus folk from 1871-1900. After "digging and
digging into public records and interviewing people," Robinson
was able to create an artwork – think a Grandma Moses painting
in Technicolor – that painstakingly details the forgotten community
down to each animal’s pen.
Robinson’s works are also inspired by the places she travels
to, such as the hip-hop-inspired painting "The Canwoman
Who Carried Her Home Through the Streets of New York City"
(1989). The "Wall Street" sign behind the displaced
woman’s head underscores the irony of a homeless woman on a street
where so many have reaped so much wealth.
The artist has even been inspired by her work’s visit to Brooklyn
and has created large, borough-centric woodcuts – three of which
hang in "Symphonic Poem." She is also carving a door,
titled "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," but Robinson said
that it is so large the curators couldn’t get it out of her house,
so she made 12 woodcuts instead. She said she was "touched
deeply" by the neighborhoods of Weeksville, Brownsville
and Crown Heights.
Her signature medium, "hogmawg" – which Robinson learned
how to make from her father – is a mixture of mud, grease, dyes
and glue that she uses in works such as "Basket Woman"
(1984), a sculpture of a slim female figure with an elongated
neck, clothed in cheerful printed fabric, layered like feathers.
The figure seems to have grown right up out of her base of peanut
buttery stuff and buttons, like those jaunty silk flowers waving
from her hat.
While "Basket Woman" is a completed piece, "Symphonic
Poem" also includes examples of Robinson’s original concept,
the "RagGonNon." These literally go on and on, as Robinson
works on the pieces over time.
"The RagGonNons won’t be completed until my own transition,"
she told GO Brooklyn.
The chair, "Gift of Love," that is dedicated to her
late son, Sydney, is an example of a "RagGonNon" which
she has been assembling and fine-tuning since 1974 from wood,
"hogmawg," mud, leather and music boxes. Robinson said
she made the chair for her son, who was also an artist, when
they first moved into their first house, and he complained that
they didn’t have any furniture. He died in 1994 at age 27.
Over the years, this chair has come to resemble a rustic throne
with its many tree branches and hand-tooled leather seat.
But Robinson, who adopted the name "Aminah" – Arabic
for trustworthy – after a 1979 trip to Africa, is also a citizen
of the world, and she explores her African-American heritage
in pieces such as the harrowing "Nightmare of Horrors"
which depicts slaves falling to their deaths from a boat and
"One Day in 1307 AD: King Abubakari II," a portrait
of a West African king.
Whether her subjects are regal or a Poindexter Village resident
making soap, Robinson’s works explore those universal themes
of family and community – reminding the viewer that we are all
inextricably linked to those who have come before us and have
a responsibility to be good to those among us now.
"Symphonic Poem: The Art of Aminah
Brenda Lynn Robinson" is on display through Aug. 13 at the
Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway at Washington Avenue in
Prospect Heights).
On Sunday, April 23 at 3 pm members of the Brooklyn Philharmonic
will perform a chamber music program, "Homespun," inspired
by "Symphonic Poem." A free gallery talk by a museum
guide precedes the concert. For tickets, call (718) 488-5913.
Admission to the museum is $8 adults, $4 students and seniors,
free to children age 12 and younger. For information, visit the
Web site www.brooklynmuseum.org
or call (718) 638-5000.