NADA Miami 2021

"Spirit Carrier No. 5" by Nyugen E. Smith is part of an installation of “Spirit Carriers,” which were recently the subject of a solo project at the Nasher Sculpture Center. Smith began making the Spirit Carriers in 2016 as vessels to carry and protect the spirits of unarmed people of color killed by the police, until, as the artist says, “the spirits can go where they need to go.” Suspended from the ceiling, the sculptures seem to float in space, like eccentric, improvised air balloons.

More broadly, Nyugen E. Smith’s work examines the universal human experiences of memory, trauma, and spirituality through the multifarious impacts of colonialism on the African diaspora. A first-generation Caribbean-American (born in Jersey City to Haitian and Trinidadian parents), Smith uses performance, found object sculpture, mixed media drawing, photography and writing to connect past upheavals with present political struggles.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this artwork will be donated to The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR).

Works from this series are sold in groups of three, five, seven or nine.