damali ayo: how i sometimes find myself
February 1–March 14, 2004, Hauser Memorial Library

damali ayo’s works explore identity, race, and social relations. “how i sometimes find myself” is a sculptural series based on the Golliwog, a pejorative racial caricature birthed by a young woman’s literary imagination in the late nineteenth century. The Golliwogs are dolls—former possessions of children and collectors—and they often bear the marks of their previous owners. ayo intercepts the Golliwogs as they circulate through commercial channels; most of them are purchased online, some found in thrift stores or given by friends. Once acquired they are conscripted into aesthetic situations in which they become more organic or domestic, such as sprouting roots in a tomato cage or hiding in the back of a pet carrier. ayo questions the difference between playing “with” something and playing “on” something. Presenting the Golliwogs as still or static objects highlights their social performativity.

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BIOGRAPHY: damali ayo

damali ayo is a Portland-based artist perhaps best known for her web-art-performance “rent-a-negro.com,” which explores the commodification of race and relationships between blacks and whites. “rent-a-negro” was featured in Salon.com, The Village Voice, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Harper’s magazine, and on the BBC, ABC Australia, and NPR. A resident of Portland since 1997, ayo has exhibited her work in Portland, Seattle and New York. The Oregonian recently named her “One of 12 Emerging Arts Players You Don’t Know But Should.”

damali ayo exhibits her work courtesy of Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, Oregon. For information please visit www.markwoolley.com or www.damaliayo.com