Over the last thirty years The Kitchen Table Series (1990) has rightfully claimed its posit as artist Carrie Mae Weems' most familiar work. Inspired by an exploration of women developing their own voices, this approach remains the thread throughout her artistry.
Born in Portland, Oregon in 1953 Weems' first medium was dance. In 1970 Weems joined the San Francisco dance company of post-modern pioneer Anna Halprin. Being surrounded by an immediate community of radicals realized within Weems a growing intrigue for visual arts. She would receive her first camera as a birthday gift and begin her exploration of photography with fervor.
Weems’ work is often performative and conceptually layered. In the artist’s own words, she is committed to “making the invisible, visible”. The gaze extended to us through Weems' viewfinder thematically examines race, gender, sexism, and class inequality. Through the elements of storytelling, spoken word, text, and inclusion of her own body, the artist has claimed her place in the construction of history. Inspiring the work of many Black female artists today, Carrie Mae Weems is a vanguard of her craft.
