vanessa german: Breathe from the Diaphragm, our eyes are in our lungs

Breathe from the Diaphragm: our eyes are in our lungs offers respite from the volatility and injustice of today’s world with work that focuses on selflessness, love, and the alignment of heart and mind. Pulling from precolonial and African diasporic traditions, particularly those of her ancestral Kongolese lineage in Central Africa, vanessa’s anthropomorphic sculptures employ mineral crystals, beads, glass, and many found objects that allude to the symbolism of Nkisi N’kondi, or Power Figures, which are believed to be spiritually charged figures used for healing, protection, and justice. The blue accents in the exhibition complement the healing energies of the work with its chromatic link to water. 

As the artist reflects: “There is something magnificent and perfect about water. We can access what’s within us to heal from the physical, spiritual, and intellectual harm of an unjust world.” Blue becomes a symbol not only of life but of the boundless inner reservoirs of resilience and restoration. Echoed in the title for this exhibition is the practice of deep diaphragmatic breathing, a meditative act and metaphor for grounding and release. This physical focus mirrors the broader spiritual journey the work invites: a return to the self, to ancestral wisdom, and to a holistic sense of being. Breathe from the Diaphragm becomes a space of quiet resistance and a site where art, spirit, and breath unite.

Host or Publisher Rowan University Art Gallery