Deep Dive 001: Sharifa Wilson of @plastiqmango
Plastiqmango is a color-coordinated, highly curated, and Black women-dominated ode to 1990s/early 2000s culture. While men from the era are sprinkled in on occasion, Black women pioneers of the time in beauty, style, and aesthetic are the page’s main focus. The influence of those featured — some of our favorite “sitcom stars” from what is often referred to as the “golden age of Black TV” — still shape different avenues of style and culture today. Founder of the page Sharifa Wilson shares below.
*The following responses have been edited for length and clarity.
How have Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram as platforms shaped your aesthetic, if at all? How would you describe the aesthetic of @plastiqmango?
“I can’t say that any platform specifically shaped my aesthetic. I started from scratch on Tumblr in about 2010. I just posted things I loved when I was younger and everything just evolved from that idea. As far as the aesthetic for plastiqmango, it focuses heavily on famous Black women and on a rare occasion the men get highlighted too. Right now as far as my account’s aesthetic goes, I’m doing a color theme that focuses on the outfits or colors in the image to create a color palette.”
“The story behind the name “plasticmango” is actually funny because it doesn't have real significance. In my home we had a glass fruit basket with fruits made of glass in it and my favorite one happened to be the mango. I ended up just changing it from glass to plastic and that's how that happened. I used it as a twitter name initially and it was actually spelled correctly. Years later when I decided to make an instagram for archiving, I was stumped on what name I should choose. I mentioned that old twitter name to my friend and he said I should use it and then that's how that came to life.”
What does your creative process look like?
“My creative process is all over the place to be quite honest. I usually get my ideas from a random thought and then I’ll just work my way down from that point. I always know what I’m looking for as far as ideas go. For example, I’ll be watching a television show or movie and something will catch my eye. I either go into my personal collection or go online to find that image and then I end up in a wormhole of capturing images and making a theme.”
In an interview you did with Nylon, you mentioned “The posts are like quick little history lessons for the moments of the past” that wereN’t highlighted the way they should have been and, at the same time, tributeS to those overlooked pioneers. What do you think pop culture now is taking from the “overlooked pioneers” you usually post?
“Black women are usually not credited for starting trends especially the ones that end up getting recycled. The original source ends up getting lost through that process. Most specifically, this happens in pop culture, especially the part of it that is based on retro styles right now. We’re in such a cyclical time and no one ever notices where it comes from.”
When asked if there were any black women Wilson liked to feature in particular, she had this to say, “There's no specific women I like to feature, a lot of them end up being repeated more often than others based on the content I get access to. I love a lot of the women I post though so I don't mind repeating them.”
What does being a digital archivist and curator mean to you personally?
“It means that I get to share the ideas in my brain with people and get to share some of my favorite moments of Black people on screen. I love to do it whenever I’m not busy and have the time to do so. It’s such a fun hobby for me and I love that people love my ideas.”
What do you enjoy most about the work you do?
“I love finding rare content or something I haven’t seen in a while. I also love seeing people feel the nostalgia as well and reminisce about their favorite episodes or movies and adding funny commentary.”
“The funniest things are usually inappropriate haHA, I'd feel bad about mentioning it.”
What do you want people to take away from your page?
“Nothing too serious, I just want them to know and see how trendy and beautiful black people are that is all.”
What do you see in the future yourself and your curatorial work?
“I just want to continue sharing, I never imagined anything coming out of this. It’s still surreal to see that I’ve gained a following from doing this because in my eyes it was just a small hobby. I just love it and love that everyone else loves it too!”
