Carrie Mae Weems on a Century of American Violence

“I’ve always thought that, in your life, you’re only truly interested in a few things.” Artist Carrie Mae Weems, speaking across a static-y line from her home in Syracuse, New York, is explaining why, despite working in a range of mediums, from modern dance to photography, on issues ranging from race to environmental degradation, she is frequently pulling the same narrative thread. “What you do over the course of your life is to refine and gain insight into these themes.” In her 20s, Weems studied dance under Anna Halprin, in collaboration with John Cage and Robert Morris, then became a union organizer, and eventually relocated to New,” a pivotal view into the black female experience, has been awarded a MacArthur “Genius” grant, is a photography professor, and was the first black woman to receive a solo retrospective at the Guggenheim. So what is Carrie Mae Weems truly interested in? “Power. Particularly disrupting corrupt forms of power.”