Tar Beach

In this blog, I will elaborate on Tar Beach, the typical work of Faith Ringgold. In fact, in the beginning, Faith Ringgold painted on soft textiles instead of the flat canvas. Moreover, she used a hand-stitched cotton quilt as the frame, which was very beautiful and could be used for decoration. In 1977, Ringgold began writing her autobiography. Unable to find a publisher, she sewed her own stories on quilts, and her stories were always told in a female voice and about women’s lives. One of the most typical is Tar Beach, which is based on the artist’s childhood memories

The “Tar Beach” theme comes from the roof of the family’s apartment, where they often sleep in the summer. The little girl in the story is called Cassie, and she describes the experience of sleeping on Tar Beach as amazing. She dreamed that she could fly and that everything she passed belonged to her. In the middle of the quilt is a painting by Faith Ringgold. In the lower right corner of the picture are Cassie and her brother lying on a blanket. In the middle of the picture are their parents playing CARDS with two neighbors? Directly above them appeared another Cassie, soaring through a starry sky over the George Washington bridge. Cassie’s childish fantasies are fascinating. But it also sent a serious message, reminding the audience of the socio-economic oppression and restrictions that African Americans have suffered throughout the history of the United States.