She Wears it Well

Name: She Wears It Well

Made by and When: Frantz Brent-Harris of Sona Dolls, 2017

Material: Resin and silk with a steel base

Height: 3 feet

Hair/Eyes/Mouth: Natural texture fibers create an upward Afro/brown painted eyes with applied eyelashes/closed mouth with luscious red-painted lips

Clothes: Elaborate headdress of a red slave ship with red chains and gold beads that drape the hair and sides of the face. On the red bodice of the dress are images of human cargo of slave ships. The white skirt of the dress has a collage of enslaved people in chains and shackles and lynched humans. Printed vertical red chains separate the graphic images. Red high-heel shoes, a combination of a red coral choker and an ornate gold choker encrusted with coral and glass complete this doll’s statement.

Other: This gorgeous statement doll is jointed at the head and has a one-piece magnificently curvaceous body. Frantz Brent-Harris is a Jamaican-born Canadian doll artist and sculptor of Sona Dolls.

Artist’s Statement: “White women in Canada and North America are fond of saying, ‘Black women are so strong,’ as they actively contribute to oppression. This is my retort to that ‘compliment,’ Black women pretend to be strong in the presence of white bodies because they know they have no other choice if they want to ensure their survival.”

• 

• 

_________

Your comments are valued. Donations aid the initiative to preserve Black-doll history. 

If you subscribe to DeeBeeGee’s Virtual Black Doll Museum™ by email, be sure to click the post title in the email, which links to the website to view all text and associated media. Please “like” and share this installation with your social media doll contacts. To subscribe, add your email address to the subscribe or sign-up field in the footer or right sidebar.