During her childhood, Amalia Amaki would listen to blues
vocalists such as Bessie Smith with her family. Amaki describes Smith’s
“naturally raw God-given voice” as one of the two touchstones for her childhood;
the other was buttons. Her mother, in an attempt to dissuade Amaki from her
tomboy ways, started a button collection for her. Together, those elements defined
Amaki’s upbringing and eventually became her artistic signature. In Bessie
Live, the blues singer is rendered in a cyanotype on cotton fabric,
surrounded by buttons. These personal and tactile items signal the artist’s intimate
connection to this public figure.