top of page
background_edited_edited.jpg

I C O N O G R A P H Y
2023-CURRENT

Artist Statement: 

​

Iconography is an evolving body of work influenced by Byzantine icons and religious iconography. While in Venice during the Biennale, I again stood charmed by the tilework, mosaics, and icons found across Italy. This transformative experience moved me to devote myself to embarking on a more profound journey into iconography.

​

An icon is a work typically religious in nature. These visual declarations were used to assist the observer in focusing on all things sacred and were viewed more as literal prayers than art. Believed to serve as conduits to the divine, each was meticulously crafted by an iconographer embarking on a journey of prayer and meditation. As they created, their hands were believed to have been guided by the spirit of the most high. While my "icons" deviate from the traditional context of worship, like icons of the past, they nevertheless call on the viewer to recognize their significance, preciousness, sacred nature, and value as they embody my prayers for them and the world. As this series and my exploration of gold have progressed, concerns over the unethical sourcing of materials such as gold and cobalt, particularly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have led me to forgo my use of genuine gold. Still, reminiscent of the tesserae used to make Byzantine mosaics, the painted paper remnants of my past works cut into tiny tiles take on new energy as they're carefully arranged, constructing works transcending the earthly, connecting to the heavens.

​

The series poses an important question: who gets to decide who is worthy of veneration, and why do we accept their authority? In reframing these notions of reverence, Iconography positions the Black family (mother, father, and children) as sacred figures adorned in mosaic-rendered garments depicting iconographic portraits of historical Black figures, family and community and meaningful patterns and motifs. Just as Byzantine icons serve as windows to the spiritual realm, may my icons serve as a means of sending gratitude to those who have shaped our lives and legacies across generations.

​

​

bottom of page