Moriean's Shadow
2015
DETAIL OF THE INVERTED ZINC ORGAN PIPE, FIXED ON A CONCRETE BASE.
With Moriaen’s Shadow, I use organ pipes as personifications of history and experience. The object, coupled with an audio soundscape, presents a textured, collaged representation of history: lynching, the black church, space exploration, and Afro-Futurism. The organ pipes are from a brilliantly modest, and defunct, Baptist church in rural Pennsylvania, and the essence of the work relates to the concept of sound continuing after it is first heard. The objects—dented, galvanized steel pipes—represent the many facets that collectively signify a damaged but unified identity. Moriaen’s Shadow references verticality, singularity, and strength. Moriaen refers to the only black Knight referenced in King Arthur’s court. He was searching for his identity while being ridiculed and alienated by the white community. The objects reference the legacy of the black church, as well as the Klan.
