Elizabeth Catlett

Homage to My Young Black Sisters

Standing over five feet tall, Homage to My Young Black Sisters combines elegant abstraction and poignant symbolism. American-born sculptor and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett produced the work while living in Mexico, where she partly resided for the rest of her life. Despite renouncing her U.S. citizenship at the time of the work’s production, Catlett remained invested in the United States civil rights movement and closely studied revolutionary ideologies related to liberation and Black Power.

The artist’s transnational experiences as an African American woman informed her prolific imagery. Homage to My Young Black Sisters depicts a life-size form, carved in red cedar, stretching her closed fist in the air. Catlett pays tribute to the women of the civil rights movement, whose fight for liberation is evoked in the artist’s sculpture.

A void is constructed at the figure’s womb, referencing the role of women as mothers. A sky-ward facing visage seen only from above indicates not only Catlett’s special care and attention to detail, but also her dedication to themes such as femininity and pride