By Courtney Taylor

In The Promise of the Rainbow Never Came, Katrina Andry created a series of eight prints depicting people thrown overboard. The figures, transitioning from human to eel form, are almost monstrous or beastly in their hybrid state. Andry’s anthropomorphic depictions point to the history of dehumanizing representations of black people. Her half human-half eel forms suggest the continuity of color-based violence for descendants of those who survived the Middle Passage. Falling raindrops reference the promise of the rainbow—the promise to never again be destroyed by water.

Hover your mouse over the image below to see the progression of the printing process and the steps involved as Andry brings her vision to life on paper.

Courtney Taylor is LSU MOA’s curator.

COMING UP: View the exhibition Katrina Andry: The Promise of the Rainbow Never Came with a dance appearance by Of Moving Colors on Thursday, February 21 from 6–8 p.m. Attendees will also have the opportunity to create their own Andry-inspired print to take home, facilitated by LSU printmaking students. Learn more here.