Tatter Bristle Mend

View of the museum from outside showing the Neoclassical building from one corner. The building is a tan-colored stone with an arched doorway, long vertical windows, and detailed molding around the roof.
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Art Fix Friday: June 25, 2021

Posted: June 25, 2021
Category: Tatter Bristle Mend
Museums around the world livestream videos of the sky; A look at the radical history of a graphic Asian American magazine; Celebrating the women behind record label Factory Records; and...
A black-and-white photograph of a light-skinned adult woman holding a newspaper with news about World War II. She wears a coat and her short, curly hair is caught in the wind.

Sonya Clark’s Resistance and Revolution

Posted: June 23, 2021
Category: Tatter Bristle Mend
Writer A’Lelia Bundles, who is the great-great-granddaughter of famed hair care entrepreneur Madam C. J. Walker, reflects on Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend.
A sculpted portrait of a woman in partial profile with short hair, depicted from the chest up. The portrait is sculpted from black plastic pocket combs, whose teeth have been removed in varying quantities to create the image of the woman.

Poet Nikky Finney and the Art of Sonya Clark

Posted: June 16, 2021
Category: Tatter Bristle Mend
Get to know National Book Award-winning poet Nikky Finney (b. 1957), who wrote a lyrical imagining of Sonya Clark’s creative inspirations for the Tatter, Bristle, and Mend exhibition catalogue.
A black-and-white photo of an light-skinned African American woman with long dreadlocks. She wears a button-up black shirt and black-rimmed glasses. She stands with her hands clasped in front of her and smiles warmly at the camera.

5 Fast Facts: Sonya Clark’s Materials

Posted: June 14, 2021
Category: Tatter Bristle Mend
Impress your friends with five fast facts about the materials that matter to Sonya Clark. For Clark, found objects hold history and convey context, thereby enriching the meaning of her...
A detail photograph of black pocket combs arranged into a gride of squares. In some squares, the teeth have been snipped so the background is white, in others select teeth are left creating fine black lines. Still in others squares, the majority of teeth have been left creating a predominately black background.

Divine Touch in Tatter, Bristle, and Mend

Posted: June 2, 2021
Category: Tatter Bristle Mend
Howard University Associate Professor Dr. Gwendolyn Everett considers Sonya Clark’s beadwork and the material’s function as an ancestral bond among African Americans and the African diaspora.
Tiny, colorful beads arranged in patterns to depict Esther Mahlangu painting a large artwork of geometric shapes in light pink and blue, black, white, yellow, and green. She is a dark-skinned adult woman wearing colorfully patterned robes.

Tatter, Bristle, and Mend Reading List

Posted: April 27, 2021
Category: Tatter Bristle Mend
Curious about the context that informs Sonya Clark’s art? NMWA’s Library and Research Center selected works of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for further reading, drawing on Clark’s own book collection.
A paperback copy of Ralph Ellison's novel 'Invisible Man' sits on a white surface. The book features black text and short, green, vertical lines on a white background. Atop the book is a book-like shape comprising black beads.

Forming a More Perfect Union

Posted: April 14, 2021
Category: Tatter Bristle Mend
Web designer Sue Anna Joe created the central magnolia motif on Mississippi’s new state flag, which recently replaced the original flag’s Confederate imagery. We asked Joe to consider Sonya Clark’s...
A photograph of two figures standing side by side, unraveling the threads of an American Confederate battle flag. The figure on the left has light skin, and the figure on the right has darker skin. They face away from the camera, with their hands in the center of the image pulling loose the threads.

Cover to Cover: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend

Posted: March 22, 2021
Category: Tatter Bristle Mend
Published by NMWA, the fully-illustrated exhibition catalogue Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend features new texts on Clark’s art by esteemed guest scholars and artists.
A close up photograph of braided black hair woven into cloth featuring colonial narrative scenes.

Now Open—Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend

Posted: March 3, 2021
Category: Tatter Bristle Mend
This midcareer survey features approximately 100 of Clark's mixed-media works that probe identity and visibility, appraise the force of the African Diaspora, and redress history.
Two head caps made of small, blue glass beads rest on two black mannequin heads. The two caps are connected at the tops by a beaded chain. The left cap is made of darker blue beads and the right cap is made of lighter blue beads. The chain combines both shades.