This portrait, taken from a family photograph, depicts
the artist’s great-grandmother, Iris Pierce Joyner, a
woman of Kauwets’a:ka (Meherrin) descent. The warm
yellow glow behind her head forms a halo, suggesting
her role as the patron saint of the family, and the
spare use of details in the background draws the
viewer to her steadfast yet comforting gaze. Joyner
set her great-grandmother against a background that
resembles a glimmering night sky in motion. For many
enslaved Africans and Native Americans, a starry night
provided a map to freedom and a haven under cover of
darkness in which to plan and make their escape to
liberty. The blurred edges of the figure mirror the
celestial background, indicating the continued
dynamism and power of Joyner’s ancestor.
—FARI NZINGA
