From the Mind of Lonnie Holley

Broken but Still Strong 2014
“Everybody, all of the nationalities, has that part of us that has been broken but is still strong. We have the ability to take things and recycle them, reuse them, think about them, and turn them and re-engineer them for a better use.”

Ruling for the Child (1982)
“It’s a king and a queen [and their child]. It is to say from kingdom to kingdom, or from queendom to queendom, everything has been passed down to the child.”

What’s on the Pedestal Today? (1990)
“It’s about our exterior, cosmetics. That piece is asking the questions: How are you framing yourself? How are you wanting me to see you?”

You Put the Clown Suit On (1993)
“That piece is talking about how we can easily become a subject of acting or pretending. The clown suit can outgrow the power that we have within. It can take over.”

Three Shovels to Bury You (1998)
“That was honoring my grandmama’s working habits and all the things that she did, like digging graves and going to the city dump every morning, gathering fifty-five-gallon drums of stuff. She had one for copper, one for brass, one for little motors.”

African Mask (2004)
“It’s about the spirit of something that is coming with you, or it’s with you, but can you call upon it and can it be subject to your use again? We all have the power to call on something.”

Memorial at Friendship Church (2006)
“An old man [at an A.M.E. Church in Alabama] gave me those power wires. African Americans’ first schooling was in those churches. I’m proud of the churches in that humans can go to them and learn something.”

Making Something to Take My Place (2008)
“Before you go off to heaven, let’s work the hell off of Mother Earth. The hell is her garbage, trash, her debris that is blowing in the wind. I’m saying, Let’s get our hands together and clean up.”

From a Bird’s Eye Point of View (2014)
“To study something, I do use that bird’s-eye point of view, all the way down to the roots, even if you look at the smaller pieces of mine.’