Kailyn Hill: see us

Artist Statement

see us is an ethnographic zine that visualizes the matrix of violence and the tangled web of oppression unique to Black women’s social positioning. Utilizing historical and contemporary contexts to relay the narrative of Black women’s experience in the U.S., the zine forces viewers to see what it’s like to live at the intersection of Blackness and womanhood. In a lonesome struggle for survival BW struggle against state-sanctioned violence from police and medical professionals: while also dealing with violence from men in our communities. Imagery sourced from internet archives, artists Doreen Garner, and Emory Douglas, have been collected then collaged onto pages of a science journal. The resulting compositions dissect the dual nature of Black women’s social position, one that renders them at once hypervisible by way of objectification and hypersexualization of their bodies, yet simultaneously invisible as issues directly affecting them are neglected or met with willful ignorance. This zine explores the modes of visibility and invisibility that Black women experience; intentionally directing viewers’ gaze, forcing them to see and contend with the unique ways that race, gender, and class intersect to affect the lived experience of Black women. Images are hidden behind flaps and transparent paper obscuring the images a literal illustration of the visibility and invisibility of Black women and their issues. The zine doesn’t ask- rather forces- you to acknowledge Black women, and not just to look but to really see us.

2022 VADS - People's Choice Voting

About the Project 

• Title of Work: see us
• Medium: 7.5x11" 22 page zine, images sources from the internet are collaged and collated on transfer paper, construction paper and pages from a geological science journal
• Student's Name: Kailyn Hill
• Major: Art BFA
• Anticipated Graduation Date: May 2023
• Hometown: St. Louis, MO
• Student's Mentor: Angela Schaffer
• Mentor's Department: Photography