Exhibition Guide

A mixed-media artwork of an abstracted central figure with dark skin and an Afro surrounded by a flowing robe topped by 11 circles, each with a unique material and color.

Oletha DeVane. Mamawata’s Earth Song. 2019. Acrylic, geo stones, plastic, nails, wood, rope, clay. Overall: 57 × 30 × 3 1/2 in. (144.8 × 76.2 × 8.9 cm.). © Oletha DeVane

A mixed-media artwork of an abstracted central figure with dark skin and an Afro surrounded by a flowing robe topped by 11 circles, each with a unique material and color.

Mamawata’s Earth Song

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Art Object Info

Oletha DeVane
(born 1950)

Medium:
Acrylic, geo stones, plastic, nails, wood, rope, clay
Date:
2019

Working across public art, sculpture, installation, and works on paper, Oletha DeVane explores materiality, mythology, identity, and transformation. Snakes, birds, saints, mermaids, and other symbols populate her work, evoking the possibility of communication between reality and otherworldly realms. She has spent decades learning, teaching, and making art about the most profound phenomena of the human condition and life’s transformative experiences.

Born in Baltimore, DeVane is a Baltimore-based interdisciplinary artist. She received a B.F.A from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and an M.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. DeVane has made an indelible mark on the Baltimore arts community through her work as an artist, educator, and arts administrator.

Courtesy of the artist BMA

Mamawata’s Earth Song

Oletha DeVane
(born 1950)
Date:
2019
Medium:
Acrylic, geo stones, plastic, nails, wood, rope, clay

Working across public art, sculpture, installation, and works on paper, Oletha DeVane explores materiality, mythology, identity, and transformation. Snakes, birds, saints, mermaids, and other symbols populate her work, evoking the possibility of communication between reality and otherworldly realms. She has spent decades learning, teaching, and making art about the most profound phenomena of the human condition and life’s transformative experiences.

Born in Baltimore, DeVane is a Baltimore-based interdisciplinary artist. She received a B.F.A from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and an M.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. DeVane has made an indelible mark on the Baltimore arts community through her work as an artist, educator, and arts administrator.

Courtesy of the artist BMA