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| The Sengalese girl from Paris |
“That’s the type of beauty I like to paint,” Madden says before asking the girl for her information and taking her photo. “I paint women like this because I want little Black girls to see themselves differently; as beautiful.”
Madden grew up in Jamaica, in what is called the bush or countryside. As a dark little girl she remembers being called Black, with an emphasis on the letters b, l, and k. She moved to America and at 17 was called the n-word for the first time in her life, it was a stark realization that she was not prepared for the Black American experience
“As a foreigner my mother, with very light skin and long hair, didn’t prepare me for being a Black person in America,” Madden recalls. “I learned about America and Black American history and wasn’t prepared to be a dark skinned Black woman in America.”While in the United States, Madden developed an auto immune kidney disease and through a simple twist of fate reconnected with her estranged brother in Jamaica who offered his kidney. It turned out he was a perfect match, but Madden’s journey was far from over. While on dialysis she began to draw which turned out to be an exercise in transcendence.
“I was sitting in this chair and I couldn’t move. I was surrounded by older people who were in major pain. They were screaming and crying," Madden says. "I would draw to escape and I decided then I wanted to become an artist.”
While recovering from her illness, she began to paint, establishing relationships with painters like Atlanta based artist Charlie Palmer who is now her mentor.
“In 2007 I started to find my voice. I was already painting, but I was painting literal forms,” Madden continues. “Charlie Palmer walked into my studio one day and he said I think you’ve found your voice. I said ‘I think I did too.'”
Madden’s paintings are strikingly gorgeous combining the Black aesthetic with African symbols such as mask, headpieces and colors. It’s a study in beauty from the Black perspective. Painting Black people in regal settings is not a new phenomenon, but it's Madden's execution that gives the pieces their identity. The roots of her work started in Jamaica where she grew up around women who were very emotionally and physically strong."I would paint them doing mundane activities because I wanted to showcase a beauty and strength that was innate and it was hard to do that painting them the way they were,” Madden says. “So I decided to invert the idea and create metaphors for the inner strength which is what I feel carries people through even in the most difficult situations.”
Madden celebrates the Black woman by abandoning European standards of beauty and embracing the combination of African royalty and mother nature. The women in her paintings don dark skin in hues of green, purple, and blue, an effect she achieves with acrylic paint. It is a nod to the rich hues of Black skin and how it is described amongst those who wear it as blue Black, purple Black or green. Madden says there were so many artists who painted Black skin without depth, but Madden wanted the people she painted to "look like gems."
“I wanted them to see Black as beautiful and just so absolutely gorgeous that you can’t look away from it. I wanted people to see Black skin as colorful and bedecked,” Madden says about her work. “I chose the gold and fabrics because in history fabrics and color determined how rich you were. I thought about what would catch people’s eyes like silk fabrics, beautiful patterns and gold. “
Each figure wears a crown and gowns inspired by African dynasties. The intricate patterns pull from African-American and Caribbean quilting traditions of taking fabric scraps and transforming them into heirlooms.
“I wanted to use high quality fabrics that were colorful, beautiful and had patchwork in them,” Madden continues. “In Africa when there are weddings and funerals people get beautiful fabrics and robes and they feel so prideful, even if they don’t have the money they will find the money for that day.”
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| The Beekeeper |
The titles of the paintings suggest a supernatural or even divine presence within the women. The painting “The Beekeeper” is silhouette of a Black women wearing a head piece in gold and black, “Mystique” is a portrait of a woman in a full crown with a bird sitting next to her, “Baptism” is a man’s face enshrined by gold and “The Light Within” features a little Black girl draped in an all white quilted robe standing next to a white bird. Madden who was raised in a very Christian home, says she believes there is a special relationship between Black people and the creator.
*Tamara Natalie Madden passed away in Snellville, Ga on November 4, 2017