ARTICLE

Archival Bodies in Ayana V. Jackson’s Demons Devotees I-IV

Guestbook
All comments: 0
Nobody has signed the guestbook yet. Want to be the first to leave a comment?
Represent Revista De Comunicação E Linguagens? Claim your periodical page, control article edits, and track reader engagement across every issue.
Description

The article focuses on the notion of archival bodies in Ayana V. Jackson’s Demons Devotees I-IV (2013) photographic series. The artist’s work refers to Alice Seeley-Harris’ self-portrait with Congolese children from 1905, in the context of King Leopold II’s brutal regime. Seeley-Harris’ photographs, seen from the perspective of postcolonial and decolonial studies, raise an important question about the power of images from Africa and their existence in the collective memory of the West. In that context, I propose to read the notion of archival bodies as liminal bodies, where the power dynamic and historical burden of representation lie. Jackson’s artistic practice is an example of bridging the two to deconstruct the colonial gaze toward decolonial change and the possibility of challenging West-centered and white-centred narratives. Jackson creates a visual story on empowerment, womanhood, and blackness by mimicking (or “mimicry-ing”) the visual culture of pain and helplessness. The act of remembrance in Jackson’s practice is translated into several issues regarding the colonial matrix of power, collective memory, herstory, and, most importantly, the notion of the body.

Authors1
Metadata
new_releases Incomplete entry
Created by neonli on Nov 17, 2025 at 17:45
Edited by neonli
Edits: 0
Views:
Claims
Did you write this article? , and you'll gain exclusive control of this page.
ARTICLE

Archival Bodies in Ayana V. Jackson’s Demons Devotees I-IV

Represent Revista De Comunicação E Linguagens? Claim your periodical page, control article edits, and track reader engagement across every issue.
Description

The article focuses on the notion of archival bodies in Ayana V. Jackson’s Demons Devotees I-IV (2013) photographic series. The artist’s work refers to Alice Seeley-Harris’ self-portrait with Congolese children from 1905, in the context of King Leopold II’s brutal regime. Seeley-Harris’ photographs, seen from the perspective of postcolonial and decolonial studies, raise an important question about the power of images from Africa and their existence in the collective memory of the West. In that context, I propose to read the notion of archival bodies as liminal bodies, where the power dynamic and historical burden of representation lie. Jackson’s artistic practice is an example of bridging the two to deconstruct the colonial gaze toward decolonial change and the possibility of challenging West-centered and white-centred narratives. Jackson creates a visual story on empowerment, womanhood, and blackness by mimicking (or “mimicry-ing”) the visual culture of pain and helplessness. The act of remembrance in Jackson’s practice is translated into several issues regarding the colonial matrix of power, collective memory, herstory, and, most importantly, the notion of the body.

Authors1
Guestbook
All comments: 0
Nobody has signed the guestbook yet. Want to be the first to leave a comment?
Metadata
new_releases Incomplete entry
Created by neonli on Nov 17, 2025 at 17:45
Edited by neonli
Edits: 0
Views:
Claims
Did you write this article? , and you'll gain exclusive control of this page.
UntitledDb is free to join