A Signature Style

University of Delaware’s Dr. Amalia Amaki turns everyday items into fine art

By Robin V. Smiles

WASHINGTON
At first glance, much of Dr. Amalia Amaki’s art work on display at the National Museum of Women in the Arts appears to be a simple assortment of pretty little things: heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and truffles wrapped in gold foil; bedazzled jewelry boxes and ornate handheld fans framing vintage family photos. A closer look, however, reveals that what is on display is not really what it seems. The rich, dark chocolates are actually buttons; the gems decorating the boxes and handheld fans are not precious stones, but common beads and buttons as well. And an even closer look reveals that “sweet” and/or “pretty” is not the only message Amaki is sending, particularly when you realize that the antique photos are not of the artist’s family, but random photos of everyday African-Americans found in flea markets and the like. Such anonymity prompts one to wonder about the identity of the mostly unfamiliar faces and just how bittersweet their lives might have been.
Yet, turning everyday items into fine art is Amaki’s signature style.

“I love taking the unexpected object and redefining it in the context of

art — like a button, a fan, a faded photograph,” says Amaki in an interview printed in the exhibit’s catalogue. “If there is one thing that has remained constant in my approach to my art over the past 20 years, it is my desire to tear down boundaries or sort of blur boundaries between so-called craft and so-called high art.”

That desire is well represented in the more than 70 pieces that comprise the exhibition “Amalia Amaki: Boxes, Buttons and the Blues” on display at the Washington, D.C., museum. It is the first major museum exhibition and catalogue of Amaki’s work. As a mid-career survey, the exhibition focuses on the period from 1993 to 2005. Along with the button-encrusted items described above, the exhibition includes a number of Amaki’s mixed-media quilts and manipulated photographs, all of which encourage the onlooker to delve beyond first appearances and think about the intricacies of African-American life and culture.