21c Museum Hotel Oklahoma City

“A View From Within Under The Skin” and 7 Photographs
21c Museum Hotels Oklahoma City
900 W Main St, Oklahoma City, OK 73106
August 2017 – Febuary 12, 2018

The way we see others and how one is seen has been a subject that I have had in my life since I was small. I am both Native American and Caucasian, but growing up I felt more times than I care to count that I was not enough of one or the other and that pull made me question all parts of myself. If I did not look like _____ could I be ______? Where did I fit if I was not a part of this or that group? I have had conversations with many that are from other races and that too was a struggle as well. Is my skin too dark or not dark enough, the texture of my hair or the accent that I speak with. All of this history, this past came to a head one day while getting my children ready for school we were pulling together pencils, folders, colored pencils, and crayons. They had to have 4 sets of 24 crayons each and we had leftovers from sets of the past years, some colors had never been used, and we were combining them together so we’d know how many new boxes would be required. The kids were talking about their friends at the new school and friends of their past school. In the conversation, they were describing the children “the girl with the yellow hair, the boy with the brown skin”, in a very casual descriptive manner with no malice to the differences. This made me think more about how we see people and how one is judged. The smell of the crayons, the vivid colors, and the thoughts of my youth brought me to this crayon project. How we change in our viewpoints of people, and how we judge people based on race and color. We are all one below that surface, that surface of skin, no matter the color, the shape, or the origin.

There are 12 girls and each girl is made in all the 24 colors in a Crayola Crayon box making a total 288 girls. I think if we could see ourselves as all the colors in the crayon box in all the shades we would be kinder we would be able to feel if just for a moment another’s life and our world could change in such a way that kids don’t worry about if they are too light or too dark or if their hair is the right texture to belong.

 

Here-Holly Wilson
HERE
Archival Color Photograph
mounted on 1/4″ plexi with museum mount
36″ x 24″

 

Awakening-Holly Wilson
AWAKENING
Archival Color Photograph
mounted on 1/4″ plexi with museum mount
24″ x 36″

 

Holly Wilson-In Song
IN SONG
Archival Color Photograph
mounted on 1/4″ plexi with museum mount
24″ x 36″

 

Let Go by Holly Wilson
LET GO
Archival Color Photograph
mounted on 1/4″ plexi with museum mount
36″ x 24″

 

 

Holly Wilson-Back
BACK
Archival Color Photograph
mounted on 1/4″ plexi with museum mount
24″ x 36″

 

Holly Wilson-As They Sleep
AS THEY SLEEP
Archival Color Photograph
mounted on 1/4″ plexi with museum mount
24″ x 36″

 

Holly Wilson-The Strong
THE STRONG
Archival Color Photograph
mounted on 1/8″ plexi with museum mount
24″ x 36″

 

ER by Holly Wilson
ER
Archival Color Photograph
mounted on 1/4″ plexi with museum mount
36″ x 24″

 

A View From Within Under The Skin by Holly Wilson
A View From Within Under The Skin by Holly Wilson
A View From Within Under The Skin by Holly Wilson
A View From Within Under The Skin by Holly Wilson
A View From Within Under The Skin - Detail by Holly Wilson
A View From Within Under The Skin – Detail by Holly Wilson

A View From Within Under The Skin by Holly Wilson
A View From Within Under The Skin by Holly Wilson