Ellex Swavoni’s New Sculpture ‘What Sonia Said’ Embodies African Heroism And Black Resilience

A new work of public art by Ellex Swavoni is about to find its home in Decatur, bringing the artist’s vision to a community effort to preserve Black heroes and history. Swavoni’s multidisciplinary art incorporates sculpture, graphic design, ancient spirituality, and even toy design to reflect her view of the world. The new sculpture “What Sonia Said” draws its direct inspiration from the poet and activist Sonia Sanchez’s poem “Catch the Fire“ and was commissioned as part of the “Art For the People” project of the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights. Swavoni joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom to share the collective values that informed the sculpture, and where her personal ideals and aesthetic shine through.

Though conceived in Swavoni’s unique style, “What Sonia Said” exists as an expression of a community’s history and hopes for the future. “There were extensive guidelines … that required the artist to speak about the erasure of Black women, to talk about the history of Native Americans in the area of Beacon Hill, talk about Africans, of Black people in general, to talk about heroism, and interweave the history of that space … with what the community is trying to be right now,” said Swavoni. 

“With ‘Sonia Says,’ I’m saying that there is a network that exists throughout culture and time, between indigenous peoples, between persons that are descendants of chattel slavery, the continent of Africa, throughout the diaspora … In the community of Beacon Hill, there’s a history of heroism that exists that has been passed down, and I translate that into an analogy with fire,” said Swavoni.