the trumpet [le nÈg marron] (2023)

Broken shackle affixed to an outstretched leg, kneeling with a machete in one hand, and a conch shell pressed to the lips with the other – Le Nég Marron has stood unshaken on the Champ de Mars in Haiti, through political unrest and natural disaster. The statue made to commemorate the first Black republic’s battle for independence represents a dual existence, split between marooned and emancipation in the moments after liberation. In this pocket of time, cultural identity is thrown into limbo. The Trumpet (2023) is a recreation of Le Nég Marron’s conch shell, repurposing man-made and organic items into nature and nuture representations of an intersected identity.