In this work, Bessie Harvey proved herself a master of sculptural economy. Simply by tipping a slice of tree on its side so that stray branches became limbs and then spray-painting the entirety black, the artist imbued the timber with a human presence. Then, again with great restraint, Harvey added minimal wood putty for facial features and enhanced the limbs with white shells and marbles, bringing the creature closer to life. This simple and elegant sculpture is one of Harvey’s finest.

Faces of Africa I is the first of a suite of three sculptures created in the last year of the artist’s life. Truly at the height of her ability and clearly quite skilled with indigenous materials, Harvey demonstrates the refinement of her artistry. This sculpture also declares the artist’s primary motivation in her artmaking, which was to free the spirits and souls she felt were captured in trees. As she said, “I have a feeling for Africa. I see African people in the trees and in the roots. I talk to the trees. There’s souls in the branches and roots. I frees them.”

While her art allowed Harvey to free souls from trees, it also freed her from some personal anguish. Harvey began her artistic endeavors in the 1970s, when she was middle-aged. She was raising eleven kids from two marriages and struggling with single parenthood. Sculpting proved very therapeutic. The work with trees connects her to other African American artists—many of whom used roots, branches, and trees as their primary artistic medium—and to her African heritage. Roots have a transformative purpose in many African cultures, where they figure importantly in healing, medicine, and related lore. It seems not too great a leap to observe that self-taught African-American artists employ roots in an effort to heal and to transform.

Brooke Davis Anderson, "Faces of Africa I," in Stacy C. Hollander, American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 401.