Striking the Balance: Reagan Kemp’s Emi

For the past several months, there has been growing interest in Reagan Kemp’s sculptural piece, Emi (2024), which hangs at the centre of the NAGB Ballroom in NELEVEN: INTO THE VOID. The piece, constructed from wood, chain, resin, and sand, is a triumph of balance. Its circular base is suspended from a single golden chain that extends some 12 feet to the ceiling. During its construction, Kemp kept playing with the balance, hoping to find the perfect weight and placement to keep it from toppling over. In the end, with help from NAGB curator Richardo Barrett, they were able to strike the right balance.  

The piece itself embodies this balance. It is based on a Yoruban creation story; the title of the work translates to “Breath”, representing the breath of life that the Yoruban creator deity, Olodumare, breathes into humanity after Obatala creates them out of clay. In Yoruba tradition, a deity called Obatala came down from heaven—into the void—on a golden chain to create the world. Reagan explains further: “Within this ancient Yoruba fable, the Orisha Obatala gains permission from the supreme deity Olodumare to come down from the heavens and spread life onto the dark, chaotic watery domain below. He consults Ifa divination and is instructed by Orunmila to travel down with a golden chain, a snail shell filled with sand, a chicken and a palm nut in order to succeed. Climbing down the gold chain from the heavens, Obatala descends, throws the sand onto the water, and releases the chicken. The chicken spreads the sand with its feet, Obatala plants the palm tree, and it grows into the holy site of Ife, the first Yoruba land.” The deity Reagan speaks about in this piece, Obatala, is an Orisha that governs the “head” of all people, urging them to keep a balanced continence so that all decisions in life can be made with good character and clarity of mind.   

To complete this work, Reagan also had to embody this balance: she had to rely on both her intellectual fortitude and physical capabilities. Emi is not only a technical feat but also took considerable research of Yoruba tradition and folklore. The physical weight required to create the dome, model the ceramic chicken feet, and pour the right amount of resin should also be commended. Reagan’s balance is essential to her work and life, and Emi can also be considered a portrait of her as an artist.  

You can view Regan’s work and more like it in NELEVEN: INTO THE VOID, the eleventh National Exhibition, currently on view in the second-floor galleries at the museum. Held every two years, the National Exhibition (NE) is a space for contemporary Bahamian artists to show new work that reflect the current ethos of our community. It honours work grounded in the advancement of practice, dialogue, and social engagement.