They Say "I'm so jealous" but They Really Mean "Envious"

Artist April Bey (Bahamian-American)

Date2020

MediumWatercolor drawing on wood panel in archival epoxy resin. Hand-drilled holes and hand-sewn "African" wax fabric with oil paint impasto.

Dimensions30 × 24 in. (76.2 × 61 cm)

ClassificationsPainting

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Ellingson Family

Object number2021.2.1

Label TextApril Bey’s Afrofuturist work is centered around Atlantica, a fictional world where “power dynamics are destroyed” and where “people who may be seen as less than [on Earth] are more than [in Atlantica].” For Bey, focusing on the future is a way to expand narratives of Black history solely concerned with suffering to include Black success, innovation, and triumphs. In doing so, Bey wills the creation of a new aesthetic, and a new narrative, that exists beyond oppression.

Like many of the other works in April Bey’s Atlantica series, this watercolor drawing also comments on neo-colonialism in the African diaspora. Bey was particularly struck by the Chinese knock-offs of traditional West African textiles she found during her travels to Benin, Togo, and Ghana. Bey hand-sewed this Chinese wax-fabric into the wood panel of this work to represent the globalization and corporate capitalism that continues to impact Black communities around the globe.

Status

On view

Location