Black Christ

sketchfab

This title is inspired by Mary Lou Williams' hymn Black Christ of the Andes, written in tribute to St. Martin de Porres, a Peruvian Dominican friar who became the first person of African heritage to be canonized by the Catholic Church in 1962. Visually, this scene is modeled after a deconstructed cathedral with horizontal rather than vertical saintly niches protruding towards the viewer instead of away. The altar, housing the Eucharist and accessible only to priests and altar servers, has been moved to the center of the space and rendered with a non-reflective black hue in the form of a mirrored digital figure. Avery Brooks' voice emanates from this messianic figure, reciting Ossie Davis' play Purlie Victorious' closing eulogy. The entire architecture is constructed using a digital representation of a Congo power figure, traditionally symbolizing mobile and communal embodiment of healing spirits and sacred symbolism.