The visual form of the image, “My Miss America”, creates

meaning on the suffrage and past lives of African-American

women. Defining the meaning of this image, is the strong use of

the formal elements color and line that relates to the principle

of composition of balance. Barnes’s “My Miss America” is a

beautiful, historical subject of art that clearly shows the

hardships for African-Americans.

The interpreting of this painting will start off with the

formal analysis. The style of this artwork is realistic. This

image clearly depicts an everyday life situation. One of the

formal elements, as mentioned earlier, that can be seen is line.

The direction of lines such as the curved lines and diagonal

lines could be seen throughout the red dress. These lines

suggests movement is happening. Having lines throughout the red

dress could interpret this woman constantly moving and walking,

possibly an entire day of work. The lines in the arm and legs

are vertical, which gives structure. This structure represents

strength of the muscles that has been developed in those limbs

due to hard work. Also, the lines on the outline of the shoulder

are diagonal and not curved. This demonstrates the strong pose

the woman is embodying. She is not hunched over, showing no

signs of struggles carrying the two bags.

Another formal element shown in Barnes’s painting is color.

The majority of the colors in this painting is neutral colors.

The color, brown, is visible in the woman’s skin tone, the color

of the bags is a light brown and the background on the lower

half of the painting is a very dark brown. The intensity in the

majority of this painting is low intensity. The women’s red

dress hue is very dull. This shows she is part of the poor-

working class. The background of this painting shows the value

of colors. The lower bottom is very dark, while the upper part

of this painting is lighter. The most lightness can be seen

around the woman’s head. This could exemplify pride, the high

dignity the woman has.

The two formal elements discussed, line and color, relates

to the principle of composition of balance. Barnes’s painting

shows symmetrical balance. If the painting was divided in half,

there is equal visual weight on both halves. The lines

throughout this painting is also equally distributed on both

sides. The difference may be on the right side, where the lower

portion of the women’s dress shows less lines then the right

side, which visually shows the step forward she is taking. Also

in the same area of this painting, the color of the dress seems

lighter than the right side. It’s as if the woman is “stepping

into the light”. No matter her hardships, she is going to keep

moving forward.

As stated earlier, this painting is an historical subject

of art. This work of art was created in 1970, around the time
after many civil rights movements has taken place. Many African-

American women, during these times, were pushed to work long

hour jobs to help support their family. According to the

collectionshop.com, Barnes was inspired by the explosion of the

civil rights movement. In his bibliography, found on his own

website erniebarnes.com, it states that he was born in 1938,

during the Jim Crow Era, where segregation occurred between the

whites and the blacks. Also in his bibliography, Barnes’s mother

was mention, working in domestics and housekeeping. It said,

that Barnes often accompanied his hard-working mother to her

job. This painting may depict the image of his mother, an

African-American woman working in harsh times. The lines, in the

painting, contribute to the strength of the woman’s limbs built

up from hard work. Also the color’s intensity in dull color that

expresses a woman from a poor working-class, but still has a

brightness of color that shows her strength and pride. To a

viewer, this could bring emotions that exemplify awe and

inspiration. Mark Vallen give his input on this painting from

his website, artforachange.com, “it is evident the working woman

is part of America’s permanent underclass, yet, she exudes the

dignity and nobility that evades those thought to be “above”

her. This is Barnes’s representation of a strong American woman.

This painting was displayed in the California African-

American Museum featured in the exhibit, African American

Journey West and part of the Resistance and Reform collection.

Entering upon this exhibit you see a variety of art well spread-

out in a well-lit environment. Lightings were only displayed on

artworks. The colors of the wall was a light beige, helping to

bring focus on the artworks. The large dimensions of this

painting immediately grasped my attention. Along the same wall

where other artworks displayed such as the “Watts Riot” by Noah

Purifor,1966, mixed media assemblage, 52” by 37” and “American

Pie” by Milton Bowens,2002, mixed media on canvas, 60” by 48”.

The curators definitely displayed these art works together

because it belongs in the category of Resistance and Reform.

My first initial reaction to Barnes’s painting, was

amazement. I was very inspired when I first saw this painting

and my curiosity grew. After research and putting together this

analysis, I am even more awestruck. The background of the artist

and that this could possibly represent his mother made my

appreciation of this work of art even grow.

Bibliography

Ernie Barnes.The Company of Art.Web.10 Oct.2015.<http://www.ern

iebarnes.com/biography.html>

Ernie Barnes Bio.The Collection Shop.2015.Web.10 Oct.2015.<www.c

Ollectionshop.com/xq/ASP/Ernie-Barnes-African-American-Art-
 Gallery.htm>

Vallen, Mark. “Review: Four Los Angeles Exhibits”.Art For a

Change.27 Jan.2012.Web.10 Oct.2015.<art-for-a-change.com/blog/2

012/01/review-four-los-angeles-exhibits.htm>