Marion Tisdale IV
Discipline: Painting, Illustration,
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Bio
My name is Marion Tisdale IV, I am a Raleigh based ink and colored pencil artist. I specialize in work dealing with the commodification of the black body, black masculinity, and black trauma.With my work discussing these topics I’ve been able to create a space of emotional relief. Whether I discuss queerness, or black mental health the ways complete strangers have been able to see themselves has always given me a sense of pride. Recently my work has been discussing black masculinity and trauma, and the ways older black men have told me they felt seen has given me zeal that I haven’t had in a while.
In this current artistic pursuit I’ve been honored to have a solo show at Good Trip Gallery and have work in Dorthea Dix park as well as work in the North Carolina Museum of Art store. As well joining my first gallery Safe Space Hair Salon and Gallery in Durham!
Artist Statement
My name is Marion Tisdale IV, and currently I make work that discusses the ways in which black masculinity internalizes trauma. In my series called “Wound” I was deeply inspired by my time studying at Morehouse college. In a space dedicated to the academic pursuits of black men, you have many honest and intimate conversations. One thing I learned is that if black masculinity beats the odds and can survive marginalization, it is only allowed survival. No one asks the boy who lost his father and brother to the prison system how that affects his emotional state. How seeing violence in their neighborhood puts them in states of constant anxiety, or being a victim of sexual assault changes how he sees his masculinity.
I use the drawings of external wounds as a way to depict this concept, black men/masc individuals with bruised faces black eyes, and bloody noses. Who look passive and lost, yet somehow with a constant light in their eyes, cause my hope, my prayer they and I can heal.
