Carolina Rice c. 1937

Anna Heyward Taylor created this woodcut print, titled "Carolina Rice," sometime in the first half of the 20th century. The print depicts an African American woman harvesting rice, her form bent under the weight of her labor. Taylor worked in South Carolina. As such, she was heir to a tradition in which black bodies were frequently aestheticized as part of a romanticized image of the South. However, the stark black-and-white contrast of this woodcut complicates any easy reading. The woman’s anonymity, along with the artist's graphic style, emphasizes the back-breaking toil that enabled the South's economy. Taylor's work invites us to consider how images of labor can obscure the realities of exploitation and racial inequality. To fully understand this artwork, we would need to research the history of rice cultivation in South Carolina, and the role of African American labor in that industry. Examining the artist’s personal history and other works would also shed light on her intentions and perspective.