The diptych that I have created shows two sides to Nina Simone. The first representing the glamor of her life as a musician, playing smooth melodies while her eyes twinkle under the spotlight. The second showing the rather confrontational role she took with her music during her later years of stardom. Nina Simone wrote many songs of protest, the first being in response to the assassination of Medgar Evers, a well-known civil rights activist. Simone was not one to sit quietly as her people were fighting for equality. She cried out for power to the people and took an avid stance against racism while in the public eye. In the second portrait I portrayed her leaning over the viewer with eyebrow raised. The juxtaposition of body language between the two portraits shows her transformation as an artist, going from bashful and conformative to later becoming more forward and tenacious in the face of discrimination.
