Lorraine O'Grady, a light

When I wrote to Lorraine O’Grady in 2021, I assumed that I was writing to an artist as a conglomerate. Instead, I got O’Grady herself.

When I wrote to Lorraine O’Grady in 2021, I assumed that I was writing to an artist as a conglomerate. Surely, such a giant had an assistant that may or may not respond, that may or may not support my request.

Instead, I got O’Grady herself. In the fast fury of seeking image permissions, I was stunted by her good cheer. I paused that someone so brilliant would also be kind and available, so willing share. Looking forward to her retrospective and wishing me well as a press mate after the release of her Writing in Space, 1973-2019, O’Grady responded:

Upon her passing I have taken note at the many posts that describe personal interactions with her, whether musing over recent shows or recalling work together from long ago. Every account seems to mimic my brief encounter with her, showing O’Grady’s deep and focused engagement with everyone. In these reflections inspired by her transition I better understand the inner light that illuminated the subject matter of her work.

I gasped when I first saw her Landscape (Western Hemisphere) for her ability to comment on the cultural and textural significance of Black hair, that I was still trying to disentangle for my book, New Growth. This eighteen-minute video immerses viewers in an uncertain experience, layered with divergent sounds including chirping birds, a train arrival, a thunderstorm, and cicadas. Initially appearing as obscure material swirling in the wind, the footage reveals patterns of waves and glimmers of light, requiring the viewer watch to the end.

O’Grady's portrayal utilizes a continuous close-up shot, so that proximity makes it difficult to identify the curl patterns—a blend of waves, twists, and nearly corkscrew shapes. At times, the screen is enveloped in near-total darkness, while at others, light dances off the strands, enhancing the visual texture through the contrast of graying hair. O’Grady brings the viewer seemingly “inside” the mane without revealing her body. Her abstraction of Black hair in Landscape (Western Hemisphere) makes the material unrecognizable and unfamiliar. The movements of O’Grady’s coifs are part of the story, and that her hair blows in the wind but does not blow away, suggests a racialized history as essential to the visual quality of Black hair. “Landscape,” as a description for landforms occurring in “nature” but also for the purposeful cultivation or modification of “nature” for visual appreciation, asserts a legacy of racial contact. Shooting for 18 minutes, in black and white, O’Grady tells a story about Blackness in global contact that is deeply impactful.

I am so thankful for this work and all that she created, not least of which is her lasting impression with everyone she touched.