Through the History of African American Dance

I was interested in the flat, geometric shapes of 1940s African American folk art.

I wondered: how could I use these beautifully minimal folk figures to capture a sense of narrative?

Dance seemed like the perfect topic to investigate. I wanted to portray the motion and excitement of African American dance using the broad, swooping lines of folk art.

I tried different methods of abstracting the human form.

I traced my sketches, traced photos, built figures from only rectangles. With trial and error, and the work of Bill Traylor to reference, I decided my dancers should have long, bendy limbs that were very expressive.

I also used many reference photos to see how I might represent each dance style in a still frame. I found it was most dynamic to include multiple dancers in each composition.

After a first test print, I realized a lot of revisions were needed.

I got rid of unnecessary design elements, adjusted colors based on my printer, and made expressive details like the dancers' limbs and eyes more prominent. I also had to reconsider how to best balance the figures in each composition harmoniously.

For my final print, I used sticker paper and a Cricut to create the stamps.

Creating a sticker sheet also required trial and error but taught me how to work with a cutting machine.