Astral Sea

The Astral Sea series is an extension of Tsedaye Makonnen’s work on transhistorical forced migration of Black communities across the globe. This series derives from Tsedaye's light sculptures, that consists of a large-scale installation made up of light towers that are described as obelisks (a node to Ethiopia's Axum created during the 4th-century CE), monuments and totems. Within each tower are lightboxes stacked on top of each other, each lightbox is named after a self-identifying Black woman or girl who has died from state-sanctioned violence in the US or while migrating to Europe from East Africa across the Mediterranean (with the exception of the matriarchal foundations of each light tower, which are named after Black women elders who have transitioned).