This series of hanging nooses depicts the romanticization of slavery and the lynchings of African Americans. American history has long been known for romanticizing terror, genocide, rape, torture, and oppression of black, brown, and indigenous people. The nooses hanging in their old, southern-style frames illustrates the horror that transpired to build this country and how it is woven into the fabric of the success of the wealthy white American family and the "American Dream." 

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    While this series is a first for The Artist Oliver James, she doesn't venture too far from her thought-provoking, artistic activism style. Specifically begging the question, when the sentiments, "[slavery] was necessary for the economy," or "[Africans] were beast," or "[slave owners] treated [slaves] like family," are spoken, does it look as stupid as it sounds?

    These empty wooden (roughly) 54 x 42.5-inch southern-style frames are distressed with gold and off-white acrylic paint with nooses made out of rope hanging in the middle (fake) flowers that were often found in the Southern United States.  

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Design: The Artist Oliver James