Carrie Mae WeemsUntitled (two women dancing) from the Louisiana Project, 2003
In The Louisiana Project, 2003 Carrie Mae Weems examines the distant past of slaveholding and the state’s recent present, characterised by economic crisis and racial segregation. It takes as its starting point the ubiquitous New Orleans festival Mardi Gras as well as the parades and balls associated with all-white groups who parade through the streets during the annual celebration of Carnival.
The work considers a triad of relationships between white men, white women, and women of colour played out as a sort of shadow dance. It uses the symbolism of the mirror as a means of reflection on the region and its history and on attitudes about blackness and sexual identity. The work is an attempt by which Weems positions herself as a witness to both past and future histories. It is to be confronted by one’s own position as a viewer and to acknowledge the ever-present power of the gaze and perpetual struggle by women artists, in their work and in their persons, to control image.
