The Jesuit Dallas Museum’s collection of paintings has been growing at high rates throughout this school year. From the Without a Face exhibition opening in November of last year to the new pieces donated to the museum by Madeleine Soich recently, Jesuit has many different artistic creations to display to the community. Generously given to the museum by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., Sedrick Huckaby’s Gone but not Forgotten: Sha Sha piece has recently been put up for display on the first floor of the B Hallway.
Huckaby’s Background
Sedrick Huckaby is known for using thick, impasto brush strokes to create his paintings. These works have led to his many large, oil oil-canvas creations, such as Gone but not Forgotten: Sha Sha. Born in 1975 in Fort Worth, Texas, Huckaby had always been an artist. For hours on end as a child, he would draw cartoon characters such as those from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Battlestar Galactica. He attended Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, studying art under Artists Ron Tomlinson and Jack Barnett. Tomlinson was a major contributor to his art success as he was a major influence in Huckaby’s early life and got him into studying art. He finished his undergraduate at Boston University in 1997, then attended Yale and graduated with an MFA in 1999.
Meaning Behind His Works
Sedrick Huckaby and his wife Letitia have chosen to dedicate many of their works to Sedrick’s family, mainly to his grandmother, Big Momma. Hallie Beatrice Carpenter, also referred to as Big Momma, has a lasting legacy in Huckaby’s family. Many of his paintings depict the nature of Big Momma’s house where many grandchildren and great-grandchildren would’ve lived. Her life has been portrayed along Highway 77 and Interstate 35 as well by Letitia Huckaby in a series of photographs. Between the 1930 and 1940 census, Big Momma moved from Weimer, TX (located between San Antonio and Houston) to Fort Worth, making countless memories during that time. Big Momma led a matriarchy in the family and was the one person who could connect and make anybody feel comforted and at home.
Kinfolk House
The paintings that Huckaby made in memory of Big Momma span from her death in 2008 to the present day. These works are located in the Kinfolk House, the Fort Worth residence of Big Momma from 1984-2008. Many of Huckaby’s memories come from inside this house, which is why he and his wife, Letitia, chose to buy it in 2010. As of January 2022, the Kinfolk House has been filled with various works not only by Huckaby but also by other artists. These pieces are meant to bring out the beauty, creativity, and culture of the predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood of Polytechnic, Fort Worth, where this house is located.
Tribute to Huckaby’s Sister
This specific work, Gone but not Forgotten: Sha Sha is a piece in memory of Huckaby’s sister who passed away at a young age. In this piece, Huckaby wears a T-shirt with her face on it and shows it to the observers of the painting. The image on the T-shirt is located near the center of his chest, symbolizing how close she is to him in the heart. Also, there are letters above the picture of his sister on the T-shirt that seem to be facing backward, as if one is looking through a mirror. Although without the bend of the T-shirt created in the painting, it would say “gone,” the bend causes the “g” in “gone” to disappear so it looks like it says “one.” The symbolism behind “one” is connected to his relationship and tribute to his sister to show that their family has come together as “one.”
Other Works by the Artist
The Roundup would like to give a big thanks to Jesuit Dallas Museum Director Mrs. Elizabeth Hunt-Blanc for all of the information she has given us about this piece as well as getting access to it.
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Credits
‘Kinship’ at the National Portrait Gallery looks at all the ways we are connected
https://www.papercitymag.com/arts/big-momma-house-artist-sedrick-huckaby-grandmother-humble-texas-house-wonder/
https://www.kinfolkhouse.org/about
Life After Thirty | Collaboration and Community: Sedrick Huckaby
