Ulysses

Alison Saar merges Western mythology with African American history by retelling the story of the Greek hero Ulysses and the Sirens using a figure whose bound feet evoke the horrific practice of lynching. The stoic figure hangs below two jeering faces, recalling Ulysses, who strapped himself to the mast of a ship, risking his life to hear the alluring song of the seductive sea nymphs. Saar’s work is informed by the carved forms and vibrant color of African, Caribbean, and Latin American folk arts. In this print she uses the woodcut technique, a two- dimensional complement to the life-sized wooden figures for which she is primarily known.