Lina Iris Viktor
Seventh, 2018
Pure 24 carat gold, acrylic, ink, gouache, copolymer resin, print on cotton rag paper
101.6 x 132.1 cm
40 x 52 in
40 x 52 in
Further images
Lina Iris Viktor’s work, Seventh, is part of the series ‘A Haven. A Hell. A Dream Deferred’, which draws on ties between the city of New Orleans and the resettlement...
Lina Iris Viktor’s work, Seventh, is part of the series ‘A Haven. A Hell. A Dream Deferred’, which draws on ties between the city of New Orleans and the resettlement of freed slaves in West Africa, particularly within Liberia.
The series recasts factual and fantastical narratives surrounding the United States' involvement in the founding of Liberia and explores a mythicised history of the West African nation. Established as an act of American “altruism” following the abolition of slavery, the Republic of Liberia appears here both as a paradise lost and as an admonition against colonisation.
Central to the portrait is the mercurial figure of the Libyan Sibyl; an ancient prophetic being of fate and foresight that lives in an evocative landscape, referencing both West African culture and the national iconography of the United States.
The series recasts factual and fantastical narratives surrounding the United States' involvement in the founding of Liberia and explores a mythicised history of the West African nation. Established as an act of American “altruism” following the abolition of slavery, the Republic of Liberia appears here both as a paradise lost and as an admonition against colonisation.
Central to the portrait is the mercurial figure of the Libyan Sibyl; an ancient prophetic being of fate and foresight that lives in an evocative landscape, referencing both West African culture and the national iconography of the United States.