User:Vedasundriyal/Ariminthea Rocker Bloodworth

Ariminthea Rocker Bloodworth http://ariminthearocker-bloodworth.blogspot.com/ (born in Atlanta, Georgia) is an artist and playwright who came to prominence in the United States in the late 1980s. She is the the sixth child of twelve siblings born to Rev. and Mrs. Samuel William Rocker. Her father was a Southern Baptist preacher who gave her her first paints at the age of five. She is married to Harvey Lee Bloodworth and together they have three girls.

Self-taught, Ariminthea was given her first paints at age five by her father. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the Savannah College of Art and Design; Atlanta, GA. As a contemporary African American artist, she lives and works at the nexus of multiple worldviews and cultural legacies.

In her youth, she traveled extensively throughout North and South America, Europe and South Asia. In May 1967 on Mackinac Island Michigan her first play, “The Calling Chair” was staged by Moral Rearmament and was directed by Sidney Poitier. June, 2007, The Sam Cook Story” was staged at the Rialto Theater. Ariminthea was the Playwright and Director. The play opened to rave reviews. Her work is currently featured and displayed throughout the south, and is currently on exhibit in several galleries.

In an interview in 2008, Ariminthea said," As an artist, I see myself as a “visual and literary orator” of my culture. The accurate depiction and translation of the culture and the people is very important to me. I think that this can only be done by acknowledging that which often cannot be seen – only discerned. I do so, by visually documenting that which is spiritually relevant. I am not figurative; I create what I sense; what I feel - Spirit is always present in my work."

She went on to say in 2009,"I see my art as a tool to educate and inspire; it is historical (meaning truth-telling), cultural (meaning unique to my experience as a Southern-Black- American post reconstruction- as a witness to the civil rights era and its consequences), and spiritual. I love the creative process, and I particularly love to work with materials. I am attracted to the vibrancy of colors and particularly the richness of the color black. Black is often a signature color in my paintings; it is the embodiment of all colors and signifies spirituality. The color white which is at the other end of the color spectrum is also prominent in my paintings; it represents light and the presence of the “Creative Force.” Within, the past five years, I have discovered sculpting and I am intrigued by the notion of creating interactive public spaces throughout the country to memorialize the contributions of indigenous and African-American people. I attempt to celebrate my heritage in all of its dynamic complexity and paradox. At its core, my work draws on my southern aesthetic and organizing principles of repetition, mirroring and minkisi (spiritual meanings within the work to be interpreted by the viewer and the artist."