Ebony Patterson’s textural, glittering sculptures entice viewers to continually discover more. Forms of stately figures appear, bedecked in regal clothing in a garden made of silk, cloth, beads, and glitter. Upon closer look, the figures reveal something beyond beauty and splendor: flowers replace human faces and individuality, indicating far deeper stories and darker forces at play. 

Patterson invites us into the luxurious, rich tapestry of Afro-Caribbean and African American visual cultures, while simultaneously presenting the brutal systems of oppression from outside of these communities. Patterson’s figures recall the spectacle of Carnival, a yearly festival in Caribbean and South American communities, with its pageantry, performance, and celebration. Patterson’s figures also visualize historical and contemporary violence enacted upon Black people as a result of colonization and racism. Triumph and tragedy, power and powerlessness, and truth and fiction exist simultaneously.  

-Jill Ahlberg Yohe, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art