BREE GANT + CHERISE MORRIS

the spirit endures, 2021
Mixed media, sound installation

Cherise Morris is poet, multidisciplinary artist, ritualist and spiritual worker born and raised in rural Virginia and based in Detroit, MI. Her work merges experimental writing, poetry and prayer with performance, movement, sound and ritual practices. Her work has been recognized in Best American Essays, with Pushcart Prize nominations and appeared in notable national publications. She is the Mother of her ongoing ritual-performance project, Visions of the Evolution.

“the spirit endures” is an altar working that explores the contours of the human experience through the framework and fluidities of Blackness and the embodiment of the element of water. Utilizing found objects, spirit vessels, river water and poetic narrative, this work meditates on Blackness as a journey of the soul — one of endurance, resilience and vulnerability when negotiating the boundaries of collective identity, individual experience and ancestral pains, healings and wisdoms. This space is an altar and alive with spirit, so please approach with respect and reverence.