Elsa James

Across a naked pregnant belly are projected labels waiting to be affixed to the child, from racial slurs to gendered pejoratives to terms of affection. Unspoken is the 151st myth – Michele Wallace’s ‘myth of superwoman’ – the expectation that a Black mother be supernaturally strong and capable.

Travelling from Colchester to Southend, Tilbury to Romford Market, artist Michael Landy talks ‘Essexism’ with comedian Russell Kane, artists Elsa James and Maria Anastassiou, Professor Pam Cox (Head of the Department of Sociology, University of Essex) and The Only Way is Essex legend, Amy Childs, who it turns out is related to Michael!

Across a naked pregnant belly are projected labels waiting to be affixed to the child, from racial slurs to gendered pejoratives to terms of affection. Unspoken is the 151st myth – Michele Wallace’s ‘myth of superwoman’ – the expectation that a Black mother be supernaturally strong and capable.

The title of this work turns the historically 'white' stereotype of the Essex girl, which characterises women from Essex as unintelligent, promiscuous and materialistic on its head. It centres the implications of identity, place and conflict for black folks living in Essex. Specifically, it disrupts the existing narratives. By giving a platform to these black voices, the work attempts to form new understandings of blackness viewed through a contemporary Essex lens. ​