BLUE NILE (Cosmogram #2) is a sculptural work dedicated to and inspired by jazz musician and composer Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda and her song, “Blue Nile.” Cosmograms invoke African and Black diasporic rituals and symbols, offering a site for healing and care practices. A spiral with no beginning and no end, the cosmogram offers a connection between the physical and spiritual worlds, representing the eternal seasons of a life cycle: dawn, midday, sunset, midnight, and back to dawn; rebirth and renewal. The sculpture –– consisting of selenite — creates an axis between worlds, a portal to commune with ancestors and the spirits of the cosmos.
 
This work is a part of an ongoing series by interdisciplinary artist Adee Roberson; a meditation on sound and form as a spiritual language for liberation and peace on earth. Healing is an infinite journey. Frequency and intention create healing. Sound expands states of consciousness and has calming effects on the cardiovascular and nervous systems.  For this engagement, renowned multi-instrumentalist Laraaji, together with Roberson will activate BLUE NILE (Cosmogram #2) using sounds from the zither, mbira, crystal singing bowls and various percussion tools.

Adee Roberson (b.1981, West Palm Beach, Florida) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work is a meditation on symbolism and texture. Synthesizing performance and installation, her work melds vibration and technicolor visions through paintings, video, and melodic compositions. These works offer a refracted timeline of black diasporic movement, weaving sonic and familial archives, with landscape, rhythm, and spirit.

Roberson has exhibited and performed at numerous venues including, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Antenna Gallery, Project Row Houses, Palm Springs Art Museum, Human Resources , UTA Artist Space, NADA Miami, Charlie James Gallery, Contemporary Art Center New Orleans, MOCA Los Angeles, and Art Gallery of Ontario. They have been an Artist-In-Residence at Echo Park Film Center, Treehouse Lagos, and ACRE.  Roberson is a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Cutting Edge Grant and the 2021 Los Angeles Artadia Award. She is based in Los Angeles, California. For more information, please visit: ADEE ROBERSON 

Adee Roberson was commissioned by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture to create a temporary artwork as a member of the Public Artists in Development (PAiD) program’s Artist Council.