Courtney Desiree Morris

Courtney Desiree Morris

Her words do not fall on the ground, 2023

Installation with abalone shells, conch shell, assorted shells, broken ceramics, antique tea plates, antique ceramic vases, pearls, beads, antique Mammy figurine, kitchen drawer, crab shell, glass swan figurines, ocean stones, antique blue glass bottles, driftwood, mirror, wooden duck, found objects, blue and white plates.

Overall dimensions variable

TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Collection

“Her words do not fall on the ground” is a devotional altar installation created by Courtney Desiree Morris in homage to Yemaya, the Yoruba orisha of the sea, motherhood, and creation. Steeped in diasporic memory and ancestral veneration, the installation brings together an intricate array of materials considered sacred to Yemaya, evoking the spiritual and ecological realms she governs. Central to the altar are hundreds of seashells—abalone, conch, and crab shells—painstakingly collected by the artist over a decade from the shores of the U.S. Gulf Coast, Pacific Coast, Latin America, and the Caribbean. These are presented alongside ocean stones, driftwood, antique ceramics, blue glass bottles, and other symbolic found objects that speak to Yemaya’s dominion over the sea and her deep cultural resonance across the Black Atlantic.

At the heart of the installation is a small shrine housed within an antique kitchen drawer, containing a cast-iron Mammy figurine—a racially charged artifact repurposed here as a site of transformation and reclamation. The juxtaposition of oppressive historical objects with offerings of beauty and reverence reframes inherited trauma as spiritual resistance and restoration.

Morris’s altar is not static, but intended as a living space of ritual care. When exhibited, it should be encircled by as many living plants as possible (ideally in multiples of seven, a sacred number in Yemaya's cosmology), a vase of white roses, and a border of seven blue-and-white ceramic plates—together forming a ceremonial environment that honors both the divine feminine and the marine ecologies under threat.

TBA21 has dedicated Episode 2 of Season 2 on stage to Courtney Desiree Morris: Please visit tba21 on st_age to watch three chapters of Sopera de Yemaya, listen to a conversation between her and Soledad Gutiérrez, and dive deep into the artistic research cluster.

CURRENTY ON VIEW:

Group show: Becoming Ocean: a social conversation about the Ocean

Curator: Hélène Guenin, Chus Martínez, Sébastien Ruiz, and Marie-Ann Yemsi

Venue: Villa Arson, Nice

Date: 8 May 2025 -  24 August 2025

The exhibition is part of the program for the Nice Biennial of Arts and the Ocean, organized by the City of Nice as part of the United Nations Conference on the Oceans (UNOC3) to be held in Nice from June 9 to 13, 2025.

PAST EXHIBITIONS:

Group show: Remedios. Where new land might grow

Curator: Daniela Zyman

Venue: C3A Centro de Creación Contemporánea de Andalucía, Córdoba
Date: April 14, 2023 -  March 30,  2024