Shervone Neckles - Paper Variable 2026
Shervone Neckles
2026 Paper Variables
Dieu Donné is pleased to release Plant Medicine, a new Paper Variables edition series by Shervone Neckles. Created in collaboration with Dieu Donné’s Director of Artistic Projects and Master Collaborator Tatiana Ginsberg, the project is comprised of 15 handmade paper variables, divided between three sets of five.
Artist Statement
“A cherished tradition of the Caribbean region is Bush Tea, a home-brewed remedy made from local plants, fruits, roots, and leaves that strengthens the immune system and supports preventive health and wellness. It is prepared and shared lovingly by family, friends, neighbors, or community members as a gesture of kindness and care. Inspired by this practice, I offer three variable editions of the Plant Medicine handmade paper series.
Plant Medicine translates the ingredients of moringa and turmeric bush tea, and sea moss wellness drink into multi-sensory paper works by blending medicinal herbs and spices like moringa leaf, cinnamon, dried sea moss, and nutmeg, with pigmented abaca and cotton pulp to create richly textured sheets that hold ancestral plant-based knowledge.
The edition extends my ongoing Sense Memory Work series, which translates the ingredients of my Grenadian family recipes into mixed-media assemblages that archive the island's history, agriculture, biodiversity, and traditions. Rather than documenting history through text or image, this work physically contains it. By linking papermaking with food preparation, the series bridges domestic practices, record-keeping, ritual, and physical sensation, reimagining them as a tactile collection of embodied knowledge and cultural resilience. The work reframes Caribbean domestic and inherited practices as vital sites of cultural and intellectual production.”
Shervone Neckles works with paper pulp in a deckle box at Dieu Donné
About the Artist
Shervone Neckles is a Grenadian-American interdisciplinary artist based in Queens, New York. Working across textiles, prints, installations, sculptures, and public art, she creates immersive experiences that engage Afro-Caribbean diasporic histories, mythologies, and personal narratives. By weaving researched stories into artworks that function as both archives and rituals, she evokes ancestral wisdom from objects.
Her multimedia installation exploring selfhood and memory was featured in the 2019 Venice Biennale’s Grenada Pavilion. She has since realized a number of major public and institutional projects, including BEACON (2021), a public art sculpture for the Lewis Latimer House Museum in Flushing, Queens; a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville (2022-2023); and The Lunar Portal (2023), a permanent public art installation at the University of Pittsburgh Mercy Pavilion Plaza. In fall 2024, she unveiled the subway installation The Land Between Open Water at the Westchester Square station in the Bronx, commissioned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In 2025, she presented Steeping Memory: A Collective Offering, a multisensory solo exhibition at CUNY York College Fine Arts Gallery, and received the Municipal Art Society of New York's Brendan Gill Prize, recognizing her contributions to New York City's cultural life.
For more information, please visit
https://shervoneneckles.com/home.html
About Paper Variables
Since 2000, Dieu Donné has worked with over 50 artists to create the Paper Variable series––exclusive works handmade in our studios from wet paper pulp. Artists are invited to experiment with color, shape, and texture variations to make each piece distinctive.
The 2026 Paper Variables are exclusively available through our Membership Program. For collectors, it’s an opportunity to acquire unique works by well-known artists while supporting Dieu Donné’s artistic and educational programming. Each work is signed and numbered by the artist.