Working with textiles and photography, Myra Greene mines and questions material representations of race and the body. At the center of Greene’s interdisciplinary practice is the consideration of how our understanding of colour is completely dependent on context: materially, culturally, and historically. A New Pattern focuses on the materiality of fabric and the processes of dyeing, silk screening, and sewing to explore examination of the Black experience through abstract material compositions.

Over the past few years, Greene has experimented and explored ways to expand her application and consideration of colour. She found ways to utilize the ombre dye of the fabric to accentuate the nuances and changes of perception of the coloured ink that sits on top. In trying to highlight colour, abstract patterns which that are inspired by Dutch Wax relief found on African textiles are printed as both positives and negatives in multiple hues, sometimes overlaying and embedding colour. Inspired by conversations with quilters and other fabric artists, Greene reconsidered the final forms, These final pieces are isolated as circles and ovals, a new softer design than previous works, creating a new pattern.

Myra Greene was born in New York City, and currently lives and works in Atlanta. She received her BFA from Washington University in St Louis and her MFA in Photography from the University of New Mexico. She is a Professor of Photography and Chair of the Department of Art & Visual Culture at Spelman College in Atlanta.

Named the 2021 Georgia State Fellow from South Arts, Greene’s work is in the permanent collection of The High Museum in Atlanta, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, the Princeton University Art Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem and The Getty Museum in Los Angeles.