Rosa Johan Uddoh

I found Rosas work quite interesting. I greatly admired her confidence when it came to her performance work. I don't think it is something I would personally aspire towards but it was quite inspiring to see Uddoh do so. I think it was more striking with the environment it was in. The way they were performing where very show casey but they were inside this formal gallery/ exhibiting space. The contrast was there and it was a bit odd but it strangely worked and I believe was very successful.

What I found more inspiring in Rosa Johan Uddoh's practise was her work where she took a derogatory comment from a man and turned it into a piece of work. The man commented on her thighs and it is based on a Cuban myth that black women slaves were to use their thighs to make roofing tiles. She began to run workshops for black women and non binary people to attend and learn about this. In doing so she created a community were all these people could meet, talk, discuss, chat and laugh. In the process it created a physical shelter.

I really liked that she did this, it shows how we don't need to dwell on things. We can take a negative and turn it into a positive. It was very empowering what Uddoh did and she should be very proud of this step forward in the world that more people should take note of.

How can I apply this to my practise though? Well the negative can be seen as criticism and instead of sitting around focusing on the bad, what can I do with that negative comment? I could look at my work with a fresh pair of eyes, and take what was said and ask well how could i improve that or change that. Or if i believe strongly in what I am doing I could make works to rebel the negative to make my practise more powerful and letting it speak for itself and stand tall.

Another piece by Uddoh I would like to comment on is the sound piece she did with a girl. The sound piece consisted of Rosa Uddoh asking questions that revolved around self awareness and appearance to this girl but there was a rule where she could only use certain text to describe herself. I thought this was interesting as it forced the subject to think outside of the box and to tear away from non traditional means and terms. There is a lot of pressure in todays society with looks and self presentation.