A Prayer for the Abolition of Prisons and Policing I-V by Endjah Sunlei
Medium: Mixed Media Collage and Acrylic Paint on 140lb cardstock
Dimensions: Five 8 x 8 panels
Artist Statement: Endjah Sunlei is the author of Haiku from Prison: A Charged Abolitionist's Poems and Essays and Trafficked: Reflections on Mass Incarceration as State Sanctioned Human Trafficking. This 5 panel piece embodies Sunlei's belief that Divinity and sentience extend to every being in existence. They are intent on reimaging their captivity as a lengthy residency, a sabbatical, and a spiritual retreat. Sunlei's pre-carceral career was principally dedicated to supporting young people's integrity formation and leadership potential at colleges and universities. Their current pastimes include sending affection to their beloveds through the ether and adding to the ever growing body of modern slave narratives working in concert to illuminate mass incarceration as America's 21st century plantation system. Their next text will be a workbook for cultivating abundance and resisting scarcity as concrete strategies for further propelling abolition from theory to practice.
Image description: A 5 panel collage on black, each panel includes a stanza of the poem and imagry. The 1st panel is addressed to Voracious Kudzu with Kudzu imagery, 2nd panel is addressed to Soaring Phonons with red and yellow waving ribbons, 3rd is addressed to Sacred Mycelia with fungus images, 4th is addressed to Omnipotent Ocean with water imagery, and 5th is addressed to Incandescent Lava with images of erupting volcanos.