spent two years researching wanted runaway slave adverts. She used their descriptions to create portraits of them. What she found was that Black history was not properly archived in history books.
Confirmation of what the enslaved people looked like doesn鈥檛 exist, but based on the descriptions, she is 鈥渞ehumanizing鈥� them, the 27-year-old Young said.
鈥淚 realized the descriptions that were provided were very vague, but there is a person here,鈥� Young said. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥楾echnically, these are the only portraits I have of these people 鈥檆ause I don鈥檛 know what they look like.鈥� This is my way of trying to give them back their voice or their personhood, even though they never really had it.鈥�
Young鈥檚 exhibition, , which is on display at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center through July 22, is split into two separate collections 鈥� the Wanted: Runaways collection and The Black Elders Archive. Both highlight the issue with the archiving of Black history.
The Wanted: Runaways collection features 100 drawings on runaway slaves 鈥� only 66 are on display in Fort Worth. The Black Elders Archive features 10 paintings of Black leaders like , and Young鈥檚 grandmother, Patricia Brown.
鈥淎 Portrait is Worth Our Words focuses on rehumanizing Enslaved Black people whose stories will never be fully known and providing a platform for the ordinary Black elders, who lived through Jim Crow and defacto Segregation, to share their personal experiences of that time,鈥� according to .
If there is no description of the enslaved person鈥檚 hair, she does not draw hair. Some portraits have distinct beauty marks or scars, and some have as few details as just their skin tone and facial features.
In the bottom corner of each portrait, Young lists the enslaved person鈥檚 monetary worth according to the adverts. One portrait Young drew had a reward of $50. The price is adjusted based on inflation and is used to 鈥渆mancipate鈥� the works of art. She does not believe she should profit from selling the drawings, she said.
For Young鈥檚 grandmother, Brown, 88, the exhibit was necessary for giving the people in the drawings their 鈥減ersonhood.鈥�
鈥淚t came at a good time because they鈥檙e trying to erase all of the bad stuff that was there and it did exist and if you don鈥檛 face it, if you don鈥檛 look at it and count on it, and honestly assess it with such an intent, you can鈥檛 make any changes,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good for everybody to know what happened because, in my generation, people kept a lot of secrets from us.鈥�
Brown said her generation was not allowed to ask adults questions and what they did learn was from listening in on other adults鈥� conversations. She said as an only child, she had a better opportunity to listen to adults than most because she had to go everywhere her parents went.
鈥淚 was absorbing the information that children don鈥檛 always get,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淟illian and I had always talked about how our culture is structured and fractured and everything. She always was interested in a lot of the reading material that I had. She always had access to that. She asked questions I would answer them. She was always very inquisitive.鈥�
Young said the point of drawing the elders was to archive their experiences before they died. She asked each elder a series of seven questions like, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 your earliest memory?鈥�
鈥淭hey all have these amazing stories and context for things we share and have been through. You should ask these questions to these people before they鈥檙e gone and you can鈥檛 ask them anymore,鈥� Young said. 鈥淪o that archive is like the call to action of what archives should be doing.鈥�
The art was hard for Young to complete.
鈥淚 cry a lot in my studio. And sometimes I鈥檒l just call my friends or my family. One of the ways I work through it is I let those emotions work through me, I don鈥檛 just hold it in,鈥� Young said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e cried a lot of times in my studio when looking at these things, especially when I鈥檓 sleep deprived. Because these are people, and I can鈥檛 do anything for them.鈥�
But she separated herself from her artwork by not working on the project at home. She worked on the project in her studio exclusively.
鈥淭he key thing, especially with history and one of the aspects of the runaways, I鈥檝e decided I am willingly going to ignore that there is a chance I am drawing my own ancestors,鈥� Young said. 鈥淚 also don鈥檛 purposely make myself or don鈥檛 purposely engage in things where I know it鈥檚 going to make me sad.鈥�
Out of the 100 drawings, 20 are on display in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and some are in the exhibit鈥檚 original display location at Michigan State University, where Young earned her master鈥檚 degree.
Young received her bachelor鈥檚 degree from in 2018. During her undergraduate career, she traveled with her TCU art professor to Panama and Nicaragua. He taught her Beginning Painting, Advanced Painting and her capstone courses, he said.
鈥淪he has always found places to show that intersect with the community and invite discussion,鈥� Fung said. 鈥淚 would describe her shows as very engaging, thoughtful and rigorous in their production. Lillian has always found a way to show her unique hand in the work that shines through.鈥�
Fung praised Young for her work ethic, calling it 鈥渢op of the charts.鈥�
鈥淪he constantly was looking for opportunities when she was at TCU and that never stopped. She isn鈥檛 fazed by daunting odds and puts herself and her work out into the universe and good things seem to happen because of it,鈥� he said.
Now, Young works as the family programs coordinator at the Brooklyn Museum introducing children to art, she said. Working with children is a nice break from the heavy art she creates.
Young was introduced to art when she found her mother鈥檚 sketchbook and said, 鈥淚f she can do this, I can do this.鈥�
From then, her career in art took off. She said she hopes to continue to make the drawings for years to come.
Cristian ArguetaSoto is the community engagement journalist at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him by or via . At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy .