Xenia Matthews

This project began when she came to me in an art history class. We looked at artworks tied to the French and Haitian Revolutions. Out of every work we saw, the painting of Ourika stuck with me. The more I read about her, the more I found her story so strange. Her image was stolen from herself and co-opted for the pleasure of the masses. An image without a soul, consumed - it felt familiar. As a young black woman, I saw myself in her.