59th Street Stories: The Ways of the Folk
The installation is a group of three textured cast lead-crystal sculptures. These pieces emerge from an earthen surrounding to cast a watery blue light from inside the earth, creating a passage or portal between worlds- much like the portals on an African n’kisi figure. The cast crystal forms, with their textures of burlap, string and grass, invite the viewer to consider how these humble materials, familiar to those living in southern rural black settings, have been transformed into objects of great beauty or luxury through the casting process. Such objects remind us that traditional African American culture has precious value.
