Sabriyya Harvey is a Bermudian painter and sculptor whose practice surrounds collective identity and its effect on culture-keeping and tradition in diverse examples of community. Her work explores themes of historical origin, the formation of traditions and storytelling. Using a technique of layering and abstraction, she aims to translate traditional diasporic practices into a new visual language.
Of Over de Boundry, she says: “This work particularly speaks to the little pockets of community in the larger society of rituals that combine to create Bermudian culture. This community is where we all appreciate a mutual acknowledgement that’s built on the families and friends we form within.
“The specific ritual highlighted is spectatorship. It is generationally timeless and easily decoded by the specific symbolic signifiers that are used to communicate meaning. The importance of this ritual has been deeply felt through its absence. However, our ability to comprehend its special iconographic imagery encourages us to consider what images make up the Bermudian visual vocabulary and the power of language.”