Diaspora
A diaspora from Greek διασπορά, "scattering, dispersion"[1] is "the movement, migration, or scattering of a people away from an established or ancestral homeland"[2] or "a people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location"[3], or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".[2]
... who AM I...?
I chose my narrative to be about displacement or diaspora. I felt that this is the perfect time to tell my story. My story is full of holes,questions, and mystery.How many ancestral homelands do I have? I need to know.....I am in search of an identity I cant prove.I Belong....I don't belong ,can claim cant prove race and identity,many identities......an incomplete story in progress
My mother raised my sister and I to be proud of our heritage and to be well informed of where and who we come from. But one issue is that we barely know. By oral tradition, my great grandmother, on my maternal side would sit down and tell my mother, what she knew of her past. Her name was Ruby Lee James-Hamm born around 1914. Her father was Native American and Black . Her mother remarried and took the last name James but we do not know what her last name was. Ruby's husband(my great grandfather) was born around 1910.Due to those times he knew that his father was white, but they could never interact because of the laws set in place. His father's last name was Hill but he also took his stepfather's last name which is Ham, changed to Hamm. His name was Hariles Vicktor Hamm. There are basically identical stories of my other two great parents (my grandfather's parents)His mother's maiden name was Proctor(a English surname). (Besides seeing pictures ,It is such a disconnect).My great parents were originally from Elberton Georgia. In that area , their was a large population of Native Americans but I don't know if my not so distant relatives were Cherokee or Creek. But which tribe? I don't know :( These records were burned or lost down in Georgia so one can only imagine how frustration and overwhelming it is to not have a direct link to our past .Names have been changed for whatever reason and at those times a lot of records were not kept so it is a lot to take in.My grandparents moved to Baltimore and settled down in the late 1920's. Things have been forgotten and undocumented. My great grandmother passed away when I reached my adolescence so I never got a chance to sit down and ask her questions.I talk to my grandmother but she only knows what her parents told her,so she is also getting older and has started to forget names, dates and identifying people in photographs. For a past to be so close it is baffling that something like this could be.
So I chose this narrative because it is something that effects me greatly. I ask myself how can I base who I am off of oral tradition and photographs... and no concrete evidence. I am who I am today because my family taught me that I am product of many people.... Black ,White and Native American and I should be proud of all of them. ..and I am. I always felt that something about me and my family was different but something has been missing. This is a chapter in my life where I am going through self exploration and identity and I want a connection to my past. I must learn internalize and pay homage to them. For a long time my family has had many conversations about researching our history but it still has not happened. My mother has always found innovative ways to teach and past down educational information so that I would have a general awareness of who we are or also take my siblings and I to festivals like Native American Pow Wows to help us appreciate one of our many cultures... but its not enough for me. I feel it is my duty for the generations after to be able to take pride in who they are and not feel lost and displaced.
The people of my past have been scattered around from place to place to place. Involuntary and voluntary dispersion. I need to have some connection to them ( my roots). I dont want to feel lost and unconnected anymore. I want the tight feeling in my chest(my heart) to go away.
I am very excited to interpret my thoughts and feelings through a narrative pendant. I have found many photographs and images to help to start the process of creating this personal piece!!
My grandmother... i have to get pictures of her parents to include in my research and final piece
Slave Trade
Blacks moving North in the Great Migration
I look at my features and physical features on my mother and father's side and this portrait absolutely captivates me. This man looks like my father and his mother. His lips eyes hair and forehead..Their are so many features that leave me curious.Where did I get my noes lips eyes and forehead?Where did my grandmothers get their features from?
finger prints
Finished pendant
Reflection
Looking back at the project, I think I was very successful in research documentation and planning.
I have a weird love/hate relationship with it. I think I would have treated the surface differently, using other surface techniques may have enhanced it. I worked to tightly and there wasn't to much room for experimentation like the tiles assignment. This was my first pendant I have ever made so I think its just a learning process and you take the successful parts to the next one. I have to fix the rivet , and I just might feel more confident in the piece, however I think I have made great strides. I will take elements of the 1st and 2nd assignment and bring it all together for my hollow form.
I think it would have a better look if i finished the chain.
Overall when I look at in a photograph it looks nice.
... who AM I...?
I chose my narrative to be about displacement or diaspora. I felt that this is the perfect time to tell my story. My story is full of holes,questions, and mystery.How many ancestral homelands do I have? I need to know.....I am in search of an identity I cant prove.I Belong....I don't belong ,can claim cant prove race and identity,many identities......an incomplete story in progress
My mother raised my sister and I to be proud of our heritage and to be well informed of where and who we come from. But one issue is that we barely know. By oral tradition, my great grandmother, on my maternal side would sit down and tell my mother, what she knew of her past. Her name was Ruby Lee James-Hamm born around 1914. Her father was Native American and Black . Her mother remarried and took the last name James but we do not know what her last name was. Ruby's husband(my great grandfather) was born around 1910.Due to those times he knew that his father was white, but they could never interact because of the laws set in place. His father's last name was Hill but he also took his stepfather's last name which is Ham, changed to Hamm. His name was Hariles Vicktor Hamm. There are basically identical stories of my other two great parents (my grandfather's parents)His mother's maiden name was Proctor(a English surname). (Besides seeing pictures ,It is such a disconnect).My great parents were originally from Elberton Georgia. In that area , their was a large population of Native Americans but I don't know if my not so distant relatives were Cherokee or Creek. But which tribe? I don't know :( These records were burned or lost down in Georgia so one can only imagine how frustration and overwhelming it is to not have a direct link to our past .Names have been changed for whatever reason and at those times a lot of records were not kept so it is a lot to take in.My grandparents moved to Baltimore and settled down in the late 1920's. Things have been forgotten and undocumented. My great grandmother passed away when I reached my adolescence so I never got a chance to sit down and ask her questions.I talk to my grandmother but she only knows what her parents told her,so she is also getting older and has started to forget names, dates and identifying people in photographs. For a past to be so close it is baffling that something like this could be.
Elberton Georgia
So I chose this narrative because it is something that effects me greatly. I ask myself how can I base who I am off of oral tradition and photographs... and no concrete evidence. I am who I am today because my family taught me that I am product of many people.... Black ,White and Native American and I should be proud of all of them. ..and I am. I always felt that something about me and my family was different but something has been missing. This is a chapter in my life where I am going through self exploration and identity and I want a connection to my past. I must learn internalize and pay homage to them. For a long time my family has had many conversations about researching our history but it still has not happened. My mother has always found innovative ways to teach and past down educational information so that I would have a general awareness of who we are or also take my siblings and I to festivals like Native American Pow Wows to help us appreciate one of our many cultures... but its not enough for me. I feel it is my duty for the generations after to be able to take pride in who they are and not feel lost and displaced.
The people of my past have been scattered around from place to place to place. Involuntary and voluntary dispersion. I need to have some connection to them ( my roots). I dont want to feel lost and unconnected anymore. I want the tight feeling in my chest(my heart) to go away.
I am very excited to interpret my thoughts and feelings through a narrative pendant. I have found many photographs and images to help to start the process of creating this personal piece!!
My grandmother... i have to get pictures of her parents to include in my research and final piece
Maps of Blacks, Europeans, and Native Americans Diaspora
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Human Diaspora
Blacks moving North in the Great Migration
My great great grandfather from what I have been told was a farmer.
He would check on his son from time to time but could never interact with him.
I look at my features and physical features on my mother and father's side and this portrait absolutely captivates me. This man looks like my father and his mother. His lips eyes hair and forehead..Their are so many features that leave me curious.Where did I get my noes lips eyes and forehead?Where did my grandmothers get their features from?
Imagery to help weave this story together.....
Roots...Family tree
Structure of a ship..all people no matter who have traveled by boat
very representational of many things...
slave trade,colonialism,discovery,transport...
Identity
Heart ..roots in the heart
Time...past and future..lost time disconnect
Pendulum(time)
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely.[1]
When a pendulum is displaced from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position. When released, the restoring force combined with the pendulum's mass causes it to oscillate about the equilibrium position, swinging back and forth. The time for one complete cycle, a left swing and a right swing, is called the period
I would like to include components of SteamPunk jewelry in my piece. I think it will help illustrate my piece. So I have been researching about watch pieces.. and also suspensions for the pendant
I would like to use gears from a few old watches my grandmother or mother owns. Moving parts like gears would represent time .... but would be a small part of the design as a whole. Steam punk elements help age the look of a piece. It would represent past and future for me.
...thinking about including roots in some way...
Symbolism i want to use would be roots,words and maps(Middle Passage,Trail of Tears, Slave Trade,Great Migration) all examples of Diaspora which has influenced the people in my past, old family photos, the bows of a ship representing transport, watch parts representing time....webs of chains representing my inter-weaved past entanglement of many people and identities. Multiculturalism..... the thought process continues.. will be posting sketches shortly!!
One thing all people have... The desire to understand the unknown,unique, unexplainable ....
White Black Black Native American... 3 different cultures 2 paths
My Beautiful Great Grandparents.Their is a story untold, one that I will never hear for myself.
I never met my great grandfather, he past long before I was born but I know he had several stories and
is the key to unlock so much of my families past.
Machete
Looking back at the project, I think I was very successful in research documentation and planning.
I have a weird love/hate relationship with it. I think I would have treated the surface differently, using other surface techniques may have enhanced it. I worked to tightly and there wasn't to much room for experimentation like the tiles assignment. This was my first pendant I have ever made so I think its just a learning process and you take the successful parts to the next one. I have to fix the rivet , and I just might feel more confident in the piece, however I think I have made great strides. I will take elements of the 1st and 2nd assignment and bring it all together for my hollow form.
I think it would have a better look if i finished the chain.
Overall when I look at in a photograph it looks nice.
