Collage, 9 x 6 in. each

This piece is inspired by its namesake, Maya Angelou’s 1971 poem. It originated as a project for my literature class, in which I was tasked to create an imagery scrapbook. I chose “Harlem Hopscotch” because I wanted to understand more about the lives of those in the African-American community and honor the literary master Maya Angelou. I created sixteen panels, each representing a different line of the poem. I used my own interpretation of the poem and my perception of its cultural significance as inspiration. The use of paper cutting, rather than paint or pencil, proved to be incredibly time consuming.