Stacy Lynn Waddell

Stacy Lynn Waddell (Washington, DC, 1966), The Dawn of Our Kindred Sower of Parable (for Octavia Butler), 2020. 22-karat gold leaf on linen. Collection of Candice Madey and Thomas Lewis.

Stacy Lynn Waddell’s portrait celebrates author Octavia E. Butler on a monumental scale, using the allure of a brilliant, untarnished gold surface to draw our attention to her face. The first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Genius Award (in 1995) and the first Black woman recognized in this field, Butler was a pioneer. She wrote over fifteen books addressing questions of race, sex, and power. Butler’s 1993 book Parable of the Sower envisions a dystopian America of the 2020s, proposing an alternative philosophy to a world of rampant corporate greed, environmental damage, and wealth inequality.

Object Description

This portrait is done exclusively in gold leaf. It is a bust portrait, and we see the head and shoulders of a person from the left side. Their broad face is turned to look out over their left shoulder, and they look directly at the viewer from under heavy lidded eyes. Their mouth is full and closed and their dark hair is closely cropped. Their shirt has a simple cowl neckline. The background of the portrait is patterned with the placement of the gold leaf.

Stacy Lynn Waddell (Washington, DC, 1966), WOMAN IN A CHECKERED DRESS IN CONTRAPPOSTO (for M.S.). 1971/2021. Composition gold leaf on canvas. Private Collection, New York.

Move from right to left in front of this work. The delicate golden facets of the woman’s dress refract the light, simultaneously revealing and concealing this portrait of a confident Black woman. To create this image, Stacy Lynn Waddell reworked a photograph by Malian photographer Malick Sidibé, applying the gold directly to the canvas to simulate its checkered pattern using pastiglia, a technique whose potential was radically expanded by Simone Martini centuries earlier. The gold commemorates her as monumentally present on this historic occasion, while the movement of light renders her almost invisible, a duality that reflects the role of Malian women in the independence of their country.

Object Description

This composition of gold leaf on canvas produces a mottled image with white, gold and black areas. This piece is 4 feet by 3 feet. The central figure is a dark-skinned woman wearing a checkered dress standing in contrapposto with her weight on the foot to our right. She faces the viewer and appears to have large facial features and a scarf covering her hair. Her head is tilted slightly to our left. She wears a dress that falls to mid-thigh with a simple neckline and short sleeves that end with a dark border at her elbows. Her arms fall at her sides and she appears to be wearing sneakers. Given the nature of the medium of this work, details are not clearly visible.

Stacy Lynn Waddell (b. 1966, US), YOUNG WOMAN HOLDING A FLOWER (for M. S.), 2022. 22 karat gold leaf on linen, 121.9 x 91.4 cm (48 x 36 in.). ©Stacy Lynn Waddell. Courtesy of CANDICE MADEY, New York and the artist. Photography credit: Kunning Huang.

This canvas and the one to your right are part of a series of works celebrating the role of women in Mali’s Golden Age. Inspired by the photography of Malick Sidibé commemorating the independence of colonial Mali, Stacy Lynn Waddell reworked his portrait of this newly liberated woman, who stands proudly, holding a flower in one hand. Enlarging the subject’s scale and reinterpreting her on a canvas of sparkling gold facets, Waddell honors her role in the making of Mali’s independence. Gold—the most malleable of metals, resistant to oxidation and corrosion—offers a poignant metaphor for Mali’s newly minted female citizens: at once enormously strong and delicately fragile.

Object Description

This image is done in 22-karat gold leaf on linen, which produces an image that is mottled black and gray against a gold background. There is a light area outlining the central figure that perhaps suggests a light source behind her. The central figure is a dark-skinned woman standing barefoot on a gold and black checkerboard tile floor. She is viewed from the rear, slightly turned toward the viewer’s left, wearing a dark bra and shorts. Her weight is on her back leg to our right as her body turns to our left with her foot angled that way. Her left arm is bent at waist height as she holds a single long-stemmed flower. Her head is turned so that she looks directly at the viewer with her eyes wide open. A light colored ribbon pulls back her dark hair and there are a few short tight braids visible at her neck. Given the nature of the medium of this work, details are not clearly visible.