“Lush” and “riveting” are words that best describe Haitian artist Myrlande Constant’s exhibition “The Work of Radiance” at The Fowler Museum. Constant creates astonishingly beautiful mosaics out of fabric and beads, leaning on skills she developed as a young girl working in a factory stitching beads on wedding dresses. In her current practice, Constant creates not dresses, but drapos—Vodou flags—that feature people, Catholic saints, and Vodoun spirits known as Iwa, richly rendered in beads and sequins.

Some of Constant’s pieces are simple, like the early work Still Life (1995), which depicts a vase of flowers glowing with color.  Other works show scenes far more intricate, like Haiti madi 12 janvye 2010 (Haiti, Tuesday, January 12, 2010) (2012), a large tapestry that vividly depicts the shared sorrow of humans and Iwa spirits alike in the terrible aftermath of a nightmarish earthquake in Haiti. Constant holds the belief that Iwa are always present, and she often conjoins images of them with scenes and figures revered in Catholicism. This is evident in Rasanbleman Soupe Tout Eskòt Yo (2019) where beads form a sparkling “Last Supper” featuring Iwa figures at the table.

Constant’s tapestries wondrously illustrate a wide range of scenes from religious ceremonies to Haitian history and everyday life. She dazzles with the luster of her beads, her vibrant use of color, and her brilliant sense of motion—she brings alive a dancing body and a sinuous serpent alike. Stressing the spirituality of Vodou, Constant shapes a world of wonder and beauty which glitters, beguiles, and enchants.