Pulling in the Horizon (2024)

Pulling in the Horizon - 2024

Acrylic and cowrie shells on canvas, handcrafted frame by the artist 

40" x 30"

Artist Note About This Painting:

Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God has had me in a chokehold since I was 14 years old. I’ve re-read this book at least ten times because I take deep pleasure in savoring the poetry of literature that encapsulates a Black woman’s path to independence and self-liberation. This painting helped me to understand myself in the context of my dreams and desires. On the first page of her novel, Hurston scolds men who chased horizons. She found the notion of “chasing” absurd and foolish. On the last page of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston reassesses the theme of the horizon. But instead of writing about the ridiculousness of chasing the impossible, she flips the script and explores what it means to pull in a horizon. Her dreams and her peace are claimed. The horizon is hers because she decided.

This painting personifies peace and contentment. It is an ode to unbothered Black women making the impossible our reality.