"Chandelier, I"

“Chandelier, I” is based on a photograph of the chandelier from the dining room of my mother’s familial home place, Quitman Plantation, in Natchez, MS.

Across my decade-long tenure as a Natchoosian, I’ve been present as the generations before me have turned over, and though diminished with each loss, I see the light of our family burn on, rejuvenated with each new addition.

Similarly, this painting is not static. Its reflective surfaces flash in passing as well as with the changing light of day. It is always in flux. For me, with its sparkle and glow, it ignites refrains of “This Little Light of Mine.” I see it as a celebration of the light of those we’ve loved and lost against a background of “Natchez Green.”

“Chandelier, I”, is paired with Milepost 11: The Curse of the Blackened Eye which features an early sermon written by my mother on Loss, Grief, & Faith. It is immediately followed by a brief video detailing the many steps involved in the painting’s creation which is also available below. The title, “The Curse of the Blackened Eye,” comes from a song of the same name by the artist Orville Peck.