The lavishly detailed textile works of Myrlande Constant elaborate mystical realms where mermaids, serpentine beings, axolotl-headed angels, and sprawling semi-human deities interact with each other and, occasionally, with mortals. Evoking tapestries and mosaics, the artist’s compositions shimmer with thousands of intricately sewn glass beads and sequins that change color and reflect light when viewed from different angles. But these paintings are not intended to titillate: the Haitian artist is a Makout Manbo, a priestess by blood; its objects take the form of drapedritual flags involving spirits, or lwaof the voodoo pantheon.
Constant began making art in the 1990s when, frustrated by low pay and mistreatment, she quit her factory job as a wedding dress seamstress to begin, in her own words, “painting with pearls”. She revolutionized the male-dominated profession of draped by introducing the tambour embroidery stitch, a technique that creates greater depth and tactility. Constant’s vast influences beyond Haiti are evident in one of the earliest works on display, Still lifeca.1995, whose exquisite floral motifs recall those of Matisse.
His later works delve deeper into Haitian history and voodoo. A small scale selection draped mostly depict figures individually, in pairs, or in trios, including Ezili Balian, California. 2005, which portrays a strong black mother lwa loosely based on the Catholic Madonna. His greatest pieces, however, illustrate religious traditions and stories about his home country. Rendered from the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, the sprawling development of Haiti, Tuesday, January 12, 2010 (Haiti, Tuesday, January 12, 2010)2012, reminiscent of Renaissance altarpieces, such as that of Bosch Garden of Earthly Delights1490-1500.
A short documentary, Staging the invisible, 2023, with interview footage of Constant in her studio in the hills above Port-au-Prince, hints at the complicated reality she faces in her dual role as priestess and active artist recognized in outside of Haiti. Constant faces criticism from people who accuse him of “selling the image of lwa“, she says in the video. But that, she goes on to explain, is not a problem, because “the spirits are always with us . . . all around us, everywhere in the world.
