Nneka Jones is an artist born in Trinidad. She grew up watching her mother and grandmother sew, and eventually learned how to sew herself, which became an important concept in her artwork.
Jones is a contemporary artist who does hand-embroidered paintings of black girls and women. Her unique fight for social justice starts with her pieces. She has a series of “Target” paintings that revolve around the issue of sexual exploitation and trafficking of women of color.
Jones’ embroidered piece of the U.S. flag even is featured on the cover of TIME magazine. Each target expresses a motif to how these women are targets in our society.
Jones is a contemporary artist who does hand-embroidered paintings of black girls and women.
At the time, she was getting ready to attend college at University of Tampa, when there was an alarming increase in missing teen girls, which led to her decision in choosing to portray this issue in her art.
JONES AND HER UNIQUE FIGHT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
Throughout many years, art has been a form of activism through different social movements. The most recent has been art portraying Breonna Taylor in the Black Lives Matter movement during the summer of 2020.
Taylor’s image is on murals to tell her story and raise awareness on the injustices of Black people in the United States. Similarly, Jones was trying to do just that, by using a target to get us to face the issue head on.
She uses a mixed media of embroidery thread and paint, which has challenged her to really focus on choice of color. These artworks are very detailed and take months to make, which leads to really intricate and beautiful pieces.
Jones has another series of artworks called “traffic lights” which were more empowering to black women and children. She hopes that her artwork sparks conversation around topics of child trafficking. As a result, it has also gained attention during the Black Lives Matter movement which has reinforced her intention.
In conclusion, art is a unique form of activism and can be such a powerful tool when used correctly. Nneka Jones does a good job in relaying her message and making beautiful art for people to enjoy: It isn’t only used for aesthetics, as it can be used to spark change too.
