Untitled
Artist
Mary Proctor
(American, born 1960)
Date1995
MediumPaint, buttons and glue on wooden door
DimensionsFramed: 79 1/2 × 72 inches (201.9 × 182.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Matt Taylor.
Object number2003.15
On View
Not on viewCollections
Copyright© Mary Proctor.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextAfter a house fire killed her grandmother, aunt, and uncle in 1994, Florida-based artist Mary Proctor started painting. Guided by faith and grief, she recalls feeling compelled to depict the likenesses of her family members on three separate doors she found in an outbuilding on her property. Since then, Proctor has gained national recognition for her vertical assemblages and paintings. This work, made of paint and buttons, includes a quote (“My grandmoma had an old saying / The blacker the berry, the sweeter the cherry”) that celebrates the artist’s enduring bond with the woman who raised her. The citation, an old folk saying, notably celebrates African American history by embracing dark skin as a proud marker of one’s roots.