Alison Saar consistently grapples with issues of race (specifically of the African diaspora) in her work, at the same time paying homage to great art and artists of the past. Born in Los Angeles, the middle of three daughters of pioneering Black assemblage artist Betye Saar and art conservator Richard Saar, Alison Saar grew up in a household filled with creative energy and a broad range of art objects—all of which fueled her desire to create work reflecting what she has called “the plurality of her own experience.”

Traveling Light is an early version of a theme Saar returned to in 1999 for a large bronze acquired by the New Orleans Museum of Art for their sculpture garden. A Black male figure hangs upside down, suspended by rope like a lynched man—but one whose erect posture and formal attire give him dignity even as he is violated. His lead suit evokes the weight of the social stigmas attributed to Black males, not just in 1985 but well into the 2000s in the era of Trayvon Martin, Philando Castile, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and many other victims of racial injustice.