The Whitewasher

The Whitewasher

"The White Washer" is a simple yet complex question about both manual labor and the whitewashing of history. The piece creates a visual narrative/representation of the colloquial phrase "white washing" by placing a found image of a figure on a piece of paper and giving them the appearance of painting the paper white. The piece was created on a whim so I am still discovering it’s inspiration but I suspect it comes from my experience living as a BIPOC in Portland as well as the general dominant narrative of whiteness within the history of the U.S. The creation of a literal "white washer" hopes to present questions such as: If this position actually existed in our society as a manual labor job, who would be the white washer? Who in our society often work as manual laborers? What does this mean in the context of the work? My hope is that viewers will look at the image and consider these questions as well as interpret or posit questions of their own in exploring the work.

Christian Orellana Bauer

Found image, watercolor, acrylic