Nell Gottlieb

Austin, Texas

Lincoln Wipes His Eyes

Nell Gottlieb
20” x 24”
digital photograph of reductive monotypes

I continue to wrestle with how to address the dangerous arousal of white supremacy in the past and today.  I am using images from Birth of a Nation and of contemporary displays of white nationalism, both of which increased the depth and breadth of white supremacy through media.  I learned of Birth of a Nation as a child, as one of the actors was a family member; only later did I understand the film’s brutality and horror.  The title of my print series Lincoln Wipes His Eyes is from a title card from the film.

This work is very much in progress. I am in the early stages of research into these two periods, of selecting images and of contextualizing the subject matter.  I am also learning new printing and photoshop techniques.  I anticipate making five diptychs of Birth of a Nation/contemporary white nationalism image pairs.  The technique is to create reductive monotype prints, photograph them, and create solar plates to make an edition of etchings.