Bessie Harvey

1929 - 1994

Born in Dallas, GA, Bessie Harvey was the seventh of 13 children and had a very difficult childhood. Drawing strength from her mother's Christian faith, Harvey also found comfort in her own ability to turn ordinary objects into extraordinary works.  Inspired by her natural surroundings, she was particularly drawn to trees and felt that she could communicate with them. She produced hundreds of figural sculptures from roots, branches and tree stumps, adding natural materials, found objects and jewelry to evoke the “spirit in the wood.”  Selecting roots as her primary medium, with their age-old role as instruments of spiritual healing in Afro-Atlantic culture, she declared that God was the artist in her work. She believed that anybody who was fortunate enough to see her work was blessed, because her work was an instrument of love. After 1983 Harvey experimented with ceramics and painting. She began a series of mixed-media ensembles titled “Africa in America”, exploring a narrative, dioramic format, hoping her tableaux would be exhibited together as teaching tools, so that black children would not forget their history.  Harvey flourished primarily in Alcoa, Tennessee from 1979 to 1994, and is canonized as a Southern folk saint.  ¹