I was commissioned by Baltimore Center Stage to create original artwork for all six plays in the 2019/2020 season. I also created one piece entitled "Black Butterfly" that encapsulated Baltimore and the spirit/theme of the season.
I hand cut and glue all my work and I used paper from hundreds of books and magazines to create the images.  

To prepare I read the scripts and the artwork is inspired by what I read.  It was a grueling but rewarding process. I feel like I grew tremendously as an artist. 

This what appears on the Baltimore Center Stage website about the the project  "Our collaboration with Mirlande signifies a stride to pull local artists into Baltimore Center Stage and provide them momentum to create new forms and expressions we can all learn from."

The Basket Women series is dedicated to my Granmere "Big".  It is inspired by her and by the absolute beauty, strength and tenacity of  the women who go up and down Haiti's hills with their livelihood balanced gracefully on their heads.

My grandmother grew legumes and rice.  She would go to the market to haggle and sell her wares.

My grandfather died prematurely and she was left to care for their six children. She not only made a way, but the family was able to thrive because of her hard work.

It is said we are all made of stardust. In this collection I've created people and landscapes made out of deep space and planets.

These collages were inspired by the fabulous movement between mother and child. It is a daily, beautiful dance.

There is so much work to do as a mother. Children are demanding. But it is also colorful, being a mom is fun and silly. Sometimes you get to see the world through the kalidescope eyes of your children.

My goal in these collages was to remove the person from their original environment and make them larger than life. I also wanted to elevate them to God/Goddess status. I gave them control over the elements, over their environments.

Back when I first starting doing collages in the 90's I loved looking through National Geographic magazine, but sometimes amongst the amazing photos there were also stories of human suffering, and alot of them were women and children. I wanted to change what I saw and I created new stories for them in my own way.

These collages evoke a sense of ritual, spirituality, meditation, a nice vibe. All hand done using various papers and sometimes paint. 

All over the world people are becoming refugees in their own land. They have been displaced by war, famine and natural disasters. Millions driven from homes must make shelter with tents, tarps and blankets.

They have to remake their lives with donated food, water and clothing. It is happening in Somalia, in the Congo, in Syria and in the Phillipines, in Haiti and in the United States.

In Haiti the earthquake of 2010 killed over 300,000 people. It destroyed millions of homes. Plastic tarps and tents were given to the citizens to make shelter. Four years after the earthquake, many still call a tent their home.