Seduction Coat, Renée Stout; Pyramid Atlantic

Renée Stout exposes the deep connections between nature, spirituality, and folk medicine in Africa and its diaspora. She often references Haitian Vodou, New Orleans Voodoo (or hoodoo), and rootwork, a form of spiritualism that evolved from West African beliefs in the American South among enslaved people. In Root Chart #1, she depicts a series of plants believed to have mystical properties. The inscription at the bottom references one of Stout’s artistic alter-egos: Fatima Mayfield, a fictional Voodoo healer, herbalist, and fortune teller. The uses of these plants extend beyond medicinal applications, offering the power to protect and purify, shape a person’s luck, and influence matters of the heart—a possibility more fully explored in Seduction Coat.

Renée Stout exposes the deep connections between nature, spirituality, and folk medicine in Africa and its diaspora. She often references Haitian Vodou, New Orleans Voodoo (or hoodoo), and rootwork, a form of spiritualism that evolved from West African beliefs in the American South among enslaved people. In Root Chart #1, she depicts a series of plants believed to have mystical properties. The inscription at the bottom references one of Stout’s artistic alter-egos: Fatima Mayfield, a fictional Voodoo healer, herbalist, and fortune teller. The uses of these plants extend beyond medicinal applications, offering the power to protect and purify, shape a person’s luck, and influence matters of the heart—a possibility more fully explored in Seduction Coat.