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Marryam Moma |@marryammomaart
Paper-cut Collage
40 x 40 inches
This analog collage is from my ICONoclasts series (2024), a vibrant mixed-media collage portrait of Bob Marley mid-performance — eyes closed, microphone raised in rapture — surrounded by cascading flora in red, gold, and green that mirror the Pan-African/Rastafari palette, with his iconic dreadlocks reimagined as sprawling, ink-black tree branches reaching skyward, silhouetted figures climbing freely through them. The work was inspired by "Is This Love" from the 1978 album Kaya — a song whose premise centers on pure, uncomplicated devotion: Marley's declaration that he wants to love and be loved in return, sharing one roof and one hope, rooted in warmth and unity — a radical act of tenderness within a genre, Reggae, that is also the soundtrack of Black resistance and liberation. In honor of Black Music Month, this piece honors how Reggae — and Bob Marley specifically — transcended geography to carry the spirit of the African diaspora globally, and the lush tropical blooms and glittering textures here translate that musical warmth into visual language, making love itself feel textured, alive, and rooted in cultural identity. The ICONoclasts series ethos — deconstructing the icon to reveal the human and the mythic simultaneously — is perfectly embodied here: the black-and-white photographic realism of Marley's face grounds him in truth, while the explosive, organic forms radiating outward elevate him into something eternal, much like the song itself.
Marryam Moma |@marryammomaart
Paper-cut Collage
40 x 40 inches
This analog collage is from my ICONoclasts series (2024), a vibrant mixed-media collage portrait of Bob Marley mid-performance — eyes closed, microphone raised in rapture — surrounded by cascading flora in red, gold, and green that mirror the Pan-African/Rastafari palette, with his iconic dreadlocks reimagined as sprawling, ink-black tree branches reaching skyward, silhouetted figures climbing freely through them. The work was inspired by "Is This Love" from the 1978 album Kaya — a song whose premise centers on pure, uncomplicated devotion: Marley's declaration that he wants to love and be loved in return, sharing one roof and one hope, rooted in warmth and unity — a radical act of tenderness within a genre, Reggae, that is also the soundtrack of Black resistance and liberation. In honor of Black Music Month, this piece honors how Reggae — and Bob Marley specifically — transcended geography to carry the spirit of the African diaspora globally, and the lush tropical blooms and glittering textures here translate that musical warmth into visual language, making love itself feel textured, alive, and rooted in cultural identity. The ICONoclasts series ethos — deconstructing the icon to reveal the human and the mythic simultaneously — is perfectly embodied here: the black-and-white photographic realism of Marley's face grounds him in truth, while the explosive, organic forms radiating outward elevate him into something eternal, much like the song itself.