Shaping Her World

American sculptor and  printmaker Elizabeth Catlett has been making powerful, arresting works of art for more than 70 years. As an African-American woman artist before the civil rights movement, she struggled to be taken seriously. She fought against prejudice and racism, creating art that stands for equality and justice.

Later, in graduate school, Catlett studied with American painter Grant Wood. He told her to choose the subject she knew best. Catlett explains, “I picked the African-American woman because I am one, and this is what I know and what I wanted to do.” African-American women are the subject of a lot of Catlett’s art. “I want to show black women with all their strength, beauty, and power,” she says, “and all their problems, and how they overcome them.”

Catlett’s artistic style is influenced by her love of African art. Her sculpture Elvira, above, has simplified facial features that are symmetrical (the same on both sides). It looks similar to designs seen in ceremonial masks from many African cultures. To make the piece, Catlett used a coil-building technique, rolling and stacking long coils of clay and then smoothing them. This is an additive method of sculpture because material is added together to create the form. The terra-cotta clay gives Elvira its warm, brown color and grainy texture.

In 1946, Catlett traveled to Mexico. She wanted to learn about linoleum-cut, or linocut, printmaking. A linocut is a relief print made by carving a reverse image into linoleum, then inking and pressing the image onto paper. In Mexico’s tradition, linocuts often address social issues.

Catlett quickly mastered the technique. Sharecropper (above) is one of the artist’s most famous prints. It features an African-American farmworker. Despite her humble clothing, she looks proud and strong. The carved lines follow the shape of the figure, giving it a sculptural, three-dimensional quality. 

In Mexico, Catlett met and married her husband, painter Francisco Moya (he died in 2002). She decided to stay there permanently. Now 96, Catlett still lives and works in Mexico, but frequently travels to the United States.