MOISE: As a scholar centered on re-envisioning narratives of Haiti and its arts, the user/audience experience is essential for the mapping of Haitian Art across America. This is an exciting moment where scholarship on Haitian art is expanding and diversifying beyond dominant tropes and canons. As a creative, my artwork investigates the search for identity through the mediums of resin, wood, word, and water. The canvas questions how “The journey begins with an introduction, not of colored objects or cooked delights, but of characters drawn grain by grain embraced by the remnants of dirt and dust. What will you have me offer… What will you gift me… as I am greeted by the aspect of my ancestral self?” Now, as I continue to discover myself in whatever medium or materials I use, they talk, I listen. They direct, I process. They pose. I paint. They bless. I sign.

IG@VodouRenaissance: We, the African diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean, often feel a disconnection from our pre-colonial history and identity, disrupted when our ancestors were brought to the New World. Our languages are Western/European based, our logic traces back to ancient Greece and Rome, and our political and economic systems are rooted in Western thought. We practice Western science and use Western technology. Yet, bet ween my “white mind” and my “black body” lies my African soul, which resists complete assimilation. This African soul is symbolized by the palm tree on the Haitian coat of arms, the white snake and rainbow familiar to Vodou practitioners, and the crown amidst a Western environment. These symbols represent the blend of cultural identities that define my experience. My work with Haitian Vodou within the African diaspora aims not to reject our Western education but to reconcile it with our African roots. This reconciliation allows us to experience our humanity fully and evolve a new identity that honors both influences."