Angela Pilgrim
Newark, NJ
Angela Pilgrim is a NJ based printmaker and founder of Fruishun and Fruishun Press Studio. Her art practice lies within screen printing, risography and textile printing. Her inspiration draws from the subject of Black beauty and Womanhood and how it is perceived in the world. She expresses her story of Black womanhood in screenprinting coupled with various mixed media techniques. Many of her works show motifs of patterns, bold complimentary colors and illustration. She expands on these motifs by expressing the powerful identity of women across the African Diaspora. Her work has been featured in publications such as Pressing Matters and 7 inches for Planned Parenthood, Pilgrim currently allocates her time in teaching at Fruishun Press Studio and is a founding member of Black Women of Print, an organization whose mission is to make visible the narratives and works of Black women printmakers, past, present and for the future.
Mama Love and Joy
Serigraph
The piece displays the emotional bond between mother and son in America. The image depicts a self portrait of the artist holding her future child close while dreaming together. The mother is thinking her opportunity as a mother is a deferred dream. She narrates, "Will I wake up one day and see my joy running around the house? Am I worrying about having it all before the opportunity comes - including the best parts of me are sound and whole first? I worry about how I will teach my little one about the evils of the world which includes police brutality because of their skin color. How can I truly protect them if I see my brothers and sisters succumb to evil? I want to be the best and give them the best." The offset of the print lends a hand to Black existence not being linear, respected and structured as promised in the American Dream. She ties the themes of future and present and her dreams as it relates to the life of Black men and women.
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