Tom Bradley International Terminal, Arrivals Level, Customs hallway 

Using the mediums of painting, sculpture, and collage, Sharon Louise Barnes’ installation celebrates familial legacies that connect to the histories of Black diasporas and early histories of the state of California. Describing it as a “soft monument,” Barnes’ work is inspired by the paths of her ancestors, spanning continents and countries, and culminating in mid-1800s Gold Rush California when they built homes and rooted down. Gleaning from historic rural African American gardens, embedded in the installation are materials such as black-eyed peas, blue bottles, and white painted stones that stem from West African customs meant for luck, protection, and spiritual remembrance.

The installation is composed of two distinct artworks. The centerpiece painting is an abstract work  comprised of acrylic, oil, ink, layers of collaged painted paper, cardboard, glitter, and organic material.  The composition evokes themes of movement and freedom. The suspended sculptural work is made primarily from strips of ink jet prints of maps and photos of West Africa; Underground Railroad routes taken by family members to free townships in Canada; early California settlements such as Ross Landing, Sutter, and Marysville where Barnes’ family first arrived in the state; and vintage family pictures from her personal archives. The sculpture also incorporates various organic materials, ribbons, and faux leaves, which integrate with the printed imagery to create a collaged embodiment of ancestry, family, and journeys to find home.

Sharon Louise Barnes is an interdisciplinary visual artist based in Los Angeles who works across painting, sculpture, and installation.  Her practice has become known for its exploration of Social Abstraction and a continual experimentation with mediums, processes, and form.  Interested in sites of resistance, resilience, and beauty, Barnes draws from personal and collective memory and contemporary discourse, melding abstraction with haptic surfaces and a poetic use of materials that she cuts, layers, or suspends into her works.

www.sharonlouisebarnes.com
@sharonbarnes4702