MAMI WATA Benefit Exhibition at Eastville Historical Society’s Heritage House Museum
SAG HARBOR, NY – Superposition Gallery is honored to present MAMI WATA, a group exhibition curated by Storm Ascher set within Eastville Community Historical Society’s Heritage House Museum. Participating artists include: Derrick Adams, Patrick Alston, Jessica Taylor Bellamy, Sanford Biggers, Layo Bright, Michael A. Butler, Alisa Sikelianos-Carter, Renée Cox, Damien Davis, Ellon Gibbs, Ashanté Kindle, Audrey Lyall, Eilen Itzel Mena, Ludovic Nkoth, Tariku Shiferaw, and Khari Turner.
MAMI WATA, named after the goddess deity and water spirit from African and Afro-Caribbean mythology, is a curation of works deeply rooted in matrilineal restorative energy. Participating artists were invited to embody the complexities that lie in this mythological symbol, from prosperity and fertility to chaos and misfortune. “This exhibition sits on the soil of Sag Harbor’s SANS neighborhoods—Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, Ninevah—modernist Black beach enclaves built by families denied access elsewhere.” says Ascher.
Lagos-born artist Layo Bright cast a mold of Ascher’s face in gold glass, presenting her in Storm Ascher in Yemọja Blue (2025)—a kiln-fused and mirrored glass work set in a custom frame—now glowing within the Heritage House. This piece marks a continuation of Bright’s acclaimed Bloom series, first introduced in her solo museum exhibition at The Aldrich. Through her intricate glasswork, Bright gives women their flowers, crowning their faces with delicate bouquets of glass blossoms. The title honors Yemọja, the revered water spirit in Bright’s Yoruba culture, known as the mother of all Orishas and of humanity itself.
Tariku Shiferaw reflects on his paintings Kuba (2023) and Nummo (2023), part of his ongoing Mata Semay series—works that have recently been acquired by institutions such as LACMA. Each six feet tall and wide, these immersive paintings take their title from the Amharic phrase Mata Semay, meaning “night sky.” Storm Ascher draws connections between the series and the ancient practices of stargazing, wayfinding, and storytelling—traditions that often relied on the sky’s reflection in water. “Through the series, I explore mark-making using the concept of mythology as a societal tool to imagine value systems and societal norms,” says Shiferaw.
Renée Cox, a longtime resident of Amagansett, donated her Queen Nanny portrait from 2004, photographed in her native Jamaica and part of her Queen Nanny of the Maroons series. In this body of work, Cox embodies the historical figure Queen Nanny, who led the Jamaican Maroons in their resistance against British colonial rule in the early 18th century. The portrait honors the strength and resilience of women like Nanny—women who, much like those who helped build the communities now known as SANS, shaped history in their own coastal enclaves.
Khari Turner generously donated two works to the cause: Protea and Gloriosa. These massive, six-foot, rotund paintings on canvas were created using ocean water collected from across the African diaspora—a signature element in Turner’s practice. “They’re from my first museum show in Wisconsin,” he shares. “Both depict elders surrounded by native plants from West Africa. The theme centered around family—they represent ethereal ancestors, the ones who sow the seeds for new generations, but also the ones with flowers on their graves.”
With a multitude of celebratory moments, a total of eight works included in the exhibition will also be donated to the institution on behalf of The Hamptons Black Arts Council founded by Storm Ascher to initiate the newly established “Hamptons Black Arts Council Contemporary Art Collection.” A labor of love and true intentions, Ascher is working closely with Executive Director Dr. Georgette Grier-Key to ensure lasting legacy for Black folks in site specific spaces reclaimed for Black history such as this.
Storm Ascher, Founder of Superposition Gallery comments “MAMI WATA is not an exhibition—it’s an altar. A gathering of artists who summon the celestial, the matrilineal, the mythic. Their works ripple and reference like the goddess herself—fluid, powerful, plural. Superposition artists draw from memory, migration, and the metaphysical, carrying many worlds inside. Together, we build a legacy of care, resistance, and return. Thank you for joining me in preserving Eastville—a sacred site holding so many Black stories in its soil. ”
Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, Executive Director of Eastville Community Historical Society comments ““This year, our Juneteenth Jubilee Celebration theme is “Disruptors; Disobedient Defiant Doers!” Storm Ascher embodies defiant leadership, and Superposition is symbolic to the celebration of US, Black and BIPOC art, expression, and experiences in the same way the Black Arts Movement did rejecting traditional theories. We are thrilled to honor Superposition Gallery this year. In the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, we salute and celebrate those who are committed to disrupting narratives that don’t serve the people. We salute and celebrate those who are defiant to all forms of oppression. We salute and celebrate those who dismantle systems that promote injustices. We salute and celebrate those who deconstruct norms that divide. We salute and celebrate those who do, the doers who act on behalf of those who can’t, those who engage in Good Trouble.
Originally dedicated to preserving the historical St. David AME Zion Church and archiving the history of the working-class community in Eastville, the Eastville Community Historical Society of Sag Harbor continues to fundraise for the church and its adjacent cemetery, in addition to hosting community gatherings and exhibitions. Ascher has spent summers in the Hamptons for over a decade and now stands as a pillar of the Eastville community, developing her curatorial and artistic practice here over the past six years. Through her consulting work with the society, the Hamptons Black Arts Council was born. Hamptons Black Arts Council (HBAC) leads with its mission to uphold the legacy of Black arts institutions on the East End through advocacy, acquisition development, and support for infrastructure and operations. The Eastville Community Historical Society will honor Storm Ascher this year at their Second Annual Juneteenth Jubilee on June 19th, 2025
Full curatorial statement can be found HERE.
Images from the exhibition and artist bios can be found HERE
For further information, interviews, and image requests please contact Tameka Shockley and Olivia Dent at superposition@purplepr.com. .
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About Superposition Gallery
Superposition Gallery was founded in 2018 by artist and curator, Storm Ascher. She started her curatorial projects with a mission to subvert gentrification tactics used in urban development through art galleries. Superposition Gallery puts on exhibitions, performances, and events
highlighting artists from around the world to foster relationships with collectors and institutions. Representation by Superposition Gallery gives artists a platform to exist in multiple contexts at once. By collaborating with spaces that have a consciousness of the neighborhood in which they reside, Superposition Gallery takes on the life of the nomadic artist and resident. Curatorial projects come to fruition through iterations of borrowed space in Los Angeles, New York, Miami and internationally.
About Hamptons Black Arts Council
Hamptons Black Arts Council is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization in the State of New York. Founded by Storm Ascher in 2023, Hamptons Black Arts Council leads with the mission to uphold the legacy of Black Arts Institutions on the East End through advocacy, acquisition development, and infrastructure and operations support. The organization aims to increase awareness and advocacy of Black art organizations through public programming, education, and networking. HBAC is continuously growing contemporary collections of artwork by artists of diverse backgrounds through exhibitions and fundraising.
About Eastville Community Historical Society
Celebrating its 44th year, it was established to uplift the unity in community through humanities, preservation, history, art, and education; linking three cultures and keeping space for cultivation and creatives. The Mission of the Eastville Community Historical Society is to preserve historic buildings and research, collect and disseminate information about the history of the Eastville area of Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, County of Suffolk, State of New York, and one of the earliest known working-class communities composed of African Americans, Native Americans and European immigrants.
