By: Alaina Cagalingan, Chloe Shiau, Kou Xiong, and Thuy Trinh Nguyen
“The Passing” by Nella Larson showed its readers the correlation of one’s color (white/black) to one’s treatment and privileges in society. As artists, we were intrigued by how Clare has passed off as fully “white” simply because of her skin tone despite being a mixed race individual who is partly African American. Because of the negative light attached to being “black,” Clare decides to abandon her half as an African American. In this story, Clare’s situation represents the cliche phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cover” since her skin tone “passes” and is recognized by society as “white,” which therefore allows her to receive certain privileges in society that only the “whites” could tap into. However, reality proves that she is not fully white.
At the back of the card, we have included a quote that reflects Clare’s struggles as she is naturally drawn back into her ‘other’ half. Her identity masquerade as “white” gradually falls off every time she encounters Irene, a culturally strong black woman who shares a light skin tone as Clare. Unlike Irene, Clare did not embrace her mixed race composition, and led herself stuck in a misguided and ambiguous identity.
Furthermore, the front of the card largely represents Clare’s character. The top portion represents the mask she portrays to the world--a classy white woman. The bottom half, on the other hand, is a “black silhouette” representing her “black” self. Clare’s death at the end of the story is a tragedy. As artists, we were inspired by how frequent media portrays mixed race people as mishaps and adversaries to clear boundaries, traitors of blood purity. In relation to this, the blood stain represents both Clare’s death and the mishaps she had encountered as a mixed race person.
While reading the statement about Irene and Clare, I am curious about Irene as well, a black woman with lighter complexion who could pass as white. I wonder how is Irene received by the black community because of her lighter skin tone, since the card has both of them and the statement describes treatment of Clare.
ReplyDeleteI love this card design of yours! First, it was well created. Second, I understood right away that the front of the card represents Clare's character; being torn between her blackness and whiteness, which eventually lead her to death. Hence, the red splash in the middle of the card. The artist statement also ties in really well with the project. No improvements needed! Good job!
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