Carletta Carrington Wilson & Bonnie Thompson Norman, “kNot free kNot human”

Carletta Carrington Wilson
Bonnie Thompson Norman
Seattle, WA
carlettacarringtonwilson.com

kNot free kNot human
2023- 2024
Accordion book with hand-colored linoleum prints using metal and wood type. Printed yellow silk clamshell case bound by Bonnie Thompson Norman.
22 x 15 x 2 in. (closed), 180 x 15 x 2 (open) [14] pp.


Artist Statement

I have been fascinated with the figure of the fugitive “advertised for capture” as illustrated by various cuts frequently found in runaway slave advertisements. These images accompanied ads appearing in numerous 18th and 19th century newspapers in the United States, the Caribbean and as far flung as Brazil and England.

The iconic figures of a man and woman form the foundation of the series: “kNot free kNot human.” Each escaping figure toting a bundle or sack, containing the scant possessions of the possessed appeared, in flight, for centuries. While they were running towards an uncertain future, they were, also, symbols of and testament to the unceasing resistance perpetuated on all sides of the Atlantic by the captives. Wilson re-imagines the iconic runaway slave advertisement. Text and image evoke the complexity of the predicament that binds individuals to a body that they cannot claim as their own.