Object number2020.23
Ashanti
Date2005
Artist
Deana Lawson
(American, born 1979)
CultureAmerican
MediumInkjet print
Edition/6
DimensionsFramed: 38 5/8 x 50 7/8 x 1 5/8 in. (98.1 x 129.2 x 4.1 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, Advisory Council for Photography, Boynton 1936 Art Purchase Fund and the Art Gallery Purchase Fund
On View
Not on viewPeriod21st c
Classification(s)
Vassar Exhibitions
Label TextDeana Lawson is particularly interested in the interconnection between person and place, and how one reflects the other. In her work Ashanti, Lawson photographed her Salsa dance teacher, nude in her home. Although this photograph was taken in Ashanti’s personal space, certain aspects, such as her pose and the stripping of the bed to display the mattress’s floral pattern, were orchestrated by Lawson. Although this bare mattress might make the space feel less like a cozy lived-in home, it emphasizes the intimate trust Ashanti had in allowing Lawson to rearrange her space. Ashanti’s nude state is an additional symbol of this unguarded connection between the two.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge.
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