It's My Country Too! — Acrylics Painting Series

Shangwe · It's My Country Too!

It's My Country Too! (2021) ⓒ Nicole Moore

Geometric Abstract Series #3
It's My Country Too!
2021
Acrylics
7 x 7 inches

This is the third and final part of a series of geometric abstract paintings, using the Kuba Design of eight triangles within a square. For the first piece, I used four Liquitex Professional Body Acrylics — Magenta, Bronze Yellow/Titanium White mix, Purple/Titanium White mix, Emerald Green/Titanium mix. Mixing in white with those colours really enhanced the pigment of the paint into a lovely creamy consistency, which is particularly noticeable with the colours purple and emerald green, as it results in a really smooth coverage. It's always a good idea to experiment with colour mixing.

It's My Country Too! (2021) ⓒ Nicole Moore

The title of this second piece — It's My Country Too! — arrived towards the completion stage, as a result of an experience of a racially motivated incident that took place on the same day that I worked on the painting (22/09/21). 

Cultural Diversity:

The person in question had said (briefly), "I don't believe in cultural diversity ... this is my country ... it's  not yours ... I'm English." I responded by saying, "So because you're white and English, you think this is your country? It's my country as much as it is yours." He didn't agree. There endeth our 'conversation'!

This is the first time that I've titled a painting in this way. It seems quite appropriate and poignant to turn a negative experience into something creative and positive.

To be even more positive, I was able to take this racially motivated incident further on a more formal basis and action was taken against the perpetrator. 

Zero-Tolerance Policy:

As a black person who was born in London (England) and has lived and worked here for many years and is someone who is personally and politically committed to anti-racism activism, I have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to racially motivated incidents. I will continue to call out racism by reporting it if/when it happens again.

Anti-Racism Resources:

Click here for anti-racism resources, where you will find a selection of recommended books, articles, podcasts, audiobooks, films, documentaries, TV series, seminars/talks, websites, and so much more!

Comments welcome!

Thanks for reading.