Margaret's Song - Original Art - Autumn Spears
Sales tax is included in the listed price.
Autumn Spears
Margaret's Song
30 in x 56 in
Acrylic paint and synthetic hair on canvas
$3,500
***This piece is part of Free Music: The Illusion of Liberation, on view at Eaton House. Artwork will remain in the exhibition space until the deinstall of the show and will be available for pickup afterward.
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About the Artwork
This artwork is apart of my series inspired by The People Could Fly, an African-American folktale retold by Virginia Hamilton. It draws from the story’s powerful ending, in which the formerly enslaved reclaim their forgotten ability to fly and escape bondage. While this moment represents liberation and hope, the artwork centers on a more haunting truth—some characters are left behind.
This element of the story can be interpreted in many ways, much like the real histories of enslaved people who made the difficult decision to either flee or remain, each choice shaped by complex personal, familial, and spiritual reasons. My piece reflects on these layered realities through the central figure, inspired by renowned Gullah artist Jonathan Green’s painting, Margaret (2017). She is percieved as humming as she tends to her daily tasks, seemingly unaware of—or perhaps willfully disconnected from—the miraculous event unfolding in the sky above her.
Through this contrast, the work explores the emotional weight of choice, survival, and the unseen acts of resistance embedded in everyday life. It invites viewers to consider not only the spectacle of liberation, but also the quieter, more ambiguous moments that complicate our understanding of freedom.
Artist Bio
Autumn Spears (b. 1998) is a Washington, DC native whose art serves as a powerful medium for reimagining Black histories and diasporic narratives. Her upbringing in communities of color, while simultaneously navigating predominantly white institutions, has profoundly shaped her identity and artistic vision. These contrasting environments have ignited her interest in exploring black representation and identity across the African diaspora.
In 2020 she received her BFA in Art Education from Albright College. In 2023, Spears held her inaugural solo exhibition, "Becoming," at the Freedman Gallery in Reading, Pennsylvania. This milestone event showcased her distinctive style and marked the beginning of a promising artistic journey. Additionally, Spears’ work has been featured in local cultural institutions such as the MLK Memorial Library, Charles Sumner School, Anacostia Arts Center, Anacostia Community Museum and the Umbrella Art Fair. Spears is also a 2024 DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities grant recipient and 2025 Art Bank finalist.
Sales tax is included in the listed price.
Autumn Spears
Margaret's Song
30 in x 56 in
Acrylic paint and synthetic hair on canvas
$3,500
***This piece is part of Free Music: The Illusion of Liberation, on view at Eaton House. Artwork will remain in the exhibition space until the deinstall of the show and will be available for pickup afterward.
--
About the Artwork
This artwork is apart of my series inspired by The People Could Fly, an African-American folktale retold by Virginia Hamilton. It draws from the story’s powerful ending, in which the formerly enslaved reclaim their forgotten ability to fly and escape bondage. While this moment represents liberation and hope, the artwork centers on a more haunting truth—some characters are left behind.
This element of the story can be interpreted in many ways, much like the real histories of enslaved people who made the difficult decision to either flee or remain, each choice shaped by complex personal, familial, and spiritual reasons. My piece reflects on these layered realities through the central figure, inspired by renowned Gullah artist Jonathan Green’s painting, Margaret (2017). She is percieved as humming as she tends to her daily tasks, seemingly unaware of—or perhaps willfully disconnected from—the miraculous event unfolding in the sky above her.
Through this contrast, the work explores the emotional weight of choice, survival, and the unseen acts of resistance embedded in everyday life. It invites viewers to consider not only the spectacle of liberation, but also the quieter, more ambiguous moments that complicate our understanding of freedom.
Artist Bio
Autumn Spears (b. 1998) is a Washington, DC native whose art serves as a powerful medium for reimagining Black histories and diasporic narratives. Her upbringing in communities of color, while simultaneously navigating predominantly white institutions, has profoundly shaped her identity and artistic vision. These contrasting environments have ignited her interest in exploring black representation and identity across the African diaspora.
In 2020 she received her BFA in Art Education from Albright College. In 2023, Spears held her inaugural solo exhibition, "Becoming," at the Freedman Gallery in Reading, Pennsylvania. This milestone event showcased her distinctive style and marked the beginning of a promising artistic journey. Additionally, Spears’ work has been featured in local cultural institutions such as the MLK Memorial Library, Charles Sumner School, Anacostia Arts Center, Anacostia Community Museum and the Umbrella Art Fair. Spears is also a 2024 DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities grant recipient and 2025 Art Bank finalist.