MILDRED HOWARD

Thirty-Eight Double Dee from portfolio 10 x 10: Ten Women/Ten Prints, 1995

Silkscreen on paper

Collection Mills College Art Museum, Museum Purchase, Mrs. John C. Sigourney [Mary Singleton], B.A. 1949, Fund, 1995.12.d

Mildred Howard is an important and influential African American artist based in the Bay Area. With deep roots in Berkeley, Howard creates art based on issues surrounding gentrification, history, consciousness, oppression, and equality. Thirty-Eight Double Dee is part of a print collection created for the Berkeley Art Center entitled 10x10: Ten Women/Ten Prints which was also an exhibition in celebration of Women\’s History Month and 75 years of women\’s suffrage. These ten prints by ten women artists explore not only the pain, but also the richness of the female experience.

Thirty-Eight Double Dee illustrates the importance of feminism and the power and fragility held within a feminine body. The gauzy white bra is dainty and feminine, with soft floral embroidery. This lies in extreme juxtaposition to the boxy, protective egg carton, which on the outside appears to be strong but is filled with delicate eggs. Howard’s work asks the viewer to learn more about the politics of how Black female bodies are typically represented.

Emma Sugarbaker