In the 1990s, a newsletter named ‘Sisters of the Yam’ was published, produced by Black Women’s Mental Health Project.
One edition contained a poem written by Roy Witcher, including the line: in the dark, “a sea of flickering hope and light”.
Rudy Loewe brought that newsletter to a workshop to discuss, and then made this artwork.
The painting is about healing rooted in ancestral and spiritual practices. And the candles symbolise people coming together to heal in the light.
An invitation from artist Rudy Loewe
We make sweet friends with the weight of sadness
And attend to the unseen, that which we are not allowed to name
Without fear of incarceration.
As everyone else sleeps
In the silence and deep dark
We erupt with creativity in the depths of the night
Quiet voices that become clearer now
Lighting up those chasms
Without the constant echo of daily living
We engage in prayer and a divine solitude
Drawing nearer to Spirit.
We sing songs into the wind
Dry-mouthed and breathless
Knees bent, hands held out
In surrender.
Nothing but the light of a flame
To remind us that we are still here