Katrina Andry
I am not your chocolate phantasy. Don’t touch my hair
Statement:
My work deals with with the historical aspect of stereotypes perpetuated against black people: how did they come to be, what are they based on, and in what way is it harmful to black people in America? I put white males in black face or watermelon face acting out what people generally perceive to be stereotypes of black culture. I use white males because they are seen as figures of authority. By putting white males in black face or watermelon face I let the audience know that the piece is about perception and not reality, and it’s how the West perceives the Other.
Self Portrait of a Black Woman
A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Katrina Andry received an MFA in Printmaking from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA in 2010. She currently works and lives in New Orleans where she maintains a studio in her home.
Depose and Dispose of Barracuda.
Katrina’s work explores the negative effects stereotypes have on people of color. Where stereotypes are typically used to help us normalize our surroundings by categorizing groups of people, the byproduct of stereotypes is that they also create arbitrary differences between people. Stereotyping establishes an arbitrary set of societal norms/rules that benefit the majority while it disenfranchises other groups of people. Katrina’s work challenges stereotypes placed upon people of color (the Other), that once had scientific research qualifying them, and how these ideas or stereotypes have become a part of how we see each other, whether consciously or unconsciously. In her practice, Katrina often creates large scale (4’ or greater), color reduction wood cuts portraying white men in black face, or more recently, watermelon face acting out a stereotype that is most often placed upon people of color. Katrina specifically uses white men as they are typically seen as figures of authority, and are historically the perpetuators of stereotypes against people of color (though people of color often enforce these same stereotypes in their own communities, but it’s not as pervasive, as people of color are more self-aware of these actions most often). Katrina also uses non-people-of-color in her work so the prints aren’t misperceived as being an expression of black culture. The fact that they are sometimes seen as that, speaks to the truth of how well engrained stereotypes against people of color are in our culture.
Venus de Flytrap. Beauty is Not Natural. They Are Not Naturally Beautiful.
Katrina was listed in the January-February 2012 issue of Art in Print as one of the top 50 printmakers. She has also been awarded residencies from the Joan Mitchell Center of New Orleans, Anchor Graphics in Chicago, and Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, California.(texts website artist)