A Healing Hand

Working With Thorns: Reflecting On The Botanical Wisdom of the Black Caribbean Women In My Family

A Healing Hand (2024). Acrylic on canvas. 22 x 28 x .025 in. [A painting in the Novel Bodies, Novel Landscapes series]

Receiving the Image

There are images that appear in my mind every day—images that, over time, evolve into paintings. Often, I don’t know what a painting is about while I’m making it. It’s only afterward, through writing, that its meaning begins to unfold. I find it difficult to paint and write about a piece simultaneously. I believe these visual moments—like frames from a film—rise from the subconscious and are offered to us when we are open. For me, these moments often arrive in the early morning, just after waking. A Healing Hand is one of those images.