Melancholy in the Music

MELANCHOLY IN THE MUSIC

KAREN Y. BUSTER TRACEY M. CONNOR

catalog written & designed by Kibibi Ajanku Black Classic Press Baltimore, Maryland 2022

MELANCHOLY IN THE MUSIC

KAREN Y. BUSTER TRACEY M. CONNOR March 2022 Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Museum Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland curated by Kibibi Ajanku

Gary Richardson

What is the “Melancholy in the Music”?

Answer: When the characteristics of the music itself combine with life’s details, memories, images, or emotions

Take the journey. This exhibition is to be experienced through the beauty and simplicity of each artist’s signature elements… Karen Y. Buster’s black and white print work, and Tracey M. Connor’s grayscale photographic images. Together, the work becomes more than inanimate objects, as it literally seems to communicate throughout the gallery, from wall to wall.

The work is the music; telling a story that is dignified, earthy, and even a bit melancholy.

Up The Fret

Black Lives Matter

These last couple of years have been woven through and through with uncertainty and complexity, to say the least.

In the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic, America’s systemic racism continued a main-stage tap dance, on a world-wide stage. The conundrum of it all has been deep and far-reaching. For many, music has been a life raft inside of choppy, emotional waters. I found myself listening to slower tunes and ballads as I contemplated the world around me… death and dying… protests and precautions… and, optimism in spite of gloom. Are the slower tunes and ballads melancholy? Are they wistful, moody, pensive, as opposed to sorrowful?

Storm Proof

I submit that the notes in the music come together as a narrative, and I compare the variety and vastness of the notes to the images that take shape on the exhibition walls of Melancholy in the Music. You see, the composition in each melody is always highly complex.

When the characteristics of the music itself combine with life’s details, memories, images, or emotions it hits deep.

A deep place that allows for contemplation and dialogue.

There is always a line flowing through the melancholy in the music that gives us wings to fly and a space for hope.

I hope this exhibition entitled, Melancholy in the Music, will do the same.

Kibibi Ajanku, MFA Curator-In-Residence

Together We Can Do Anything

Spirituality

Revealed

You Sure

Tribal Expression

Voluptuous

Tribal Expression II

Drumline

Work, Slay, Pray

Empowered By Him

KarenYBuster.com Karen Y. Buster possesses an approach to vision that is singular and unique. At an early age she became captivated by the interplay between positive and negative space. This seemingly small fascination was activated by her attraction to photography and negatives.

The attraction seeped into her dreams, and before long Karen was dreaming in black and white. She actually experienced her dreams in the way one would look at a negative from the lost days of film photography. And thus, the journey began.

A silk screen process on wearable art was the initial step in Karen Buster’s creative journey.

She worked in the field of dark in juxtaposition to light. Over time, she mastered her signature cutting technique. Images and artwork began to come to life through Buster’s use of a surgeon’s knife as a brush, and a film sheet as a blank canvas. The stark and beautiful contrast of black and white can be seen in her stylized pieces like “Senegal Woman” and “Barack”. Karen Y. Buster continues to evolve.

Steel has become her latest blank canvas. This too, is a play in the space, time and place that is held by dark and light.

TraceyMarlene.com Tracey Marlene Connor is a native New Yorker, currently residing in Bowie, Maryland. She loves creating through the lens of her camera. A substantial portion of Connor’s portfolio includes environmental portraiture, special events, and street photography. She is multifaceted and often her work embodies themes related to race, identity, and beauty.

Connor believes that capturing an image is more than just taking a picture. She says her artistry holds moments in time and creates memories.

“Whether it is portraiture, a special event, or urban scenes… my mission is to illuminate the subject in my frame as a precious memory, and a detail about a story that holds its truth.”

Tracey M. Connor is known for her recent collection entitled “Devotion”. She has studied and trained with the Paul Xavier Film Maker Academy, Willow Street Productions, and participated in numerous workshops and classes taught by Miguel Quiles and Dr. Tomayia Colvin.

She has gained momentum and inspiration through photo walks and mentorship with the award-winning photographers Toni Shaw and Salimah Ali.

KibibiAjanku.com

Kibibi Ajanku, Curator-In-Residence Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Museum Living Classrooms Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland