Femininity in Haitian Art: Erzulie Freda & La Sirene

Through the materialities of the art forms Drapo and metalwork, our exhibition will examine depictions of lwas in Haitian art: specifically, the feminine figures Erzulie Freda and La Sirene in drapo and metalwork. Inspired by our class visit to Iowa’s Waterloo Center for the Arts, our exhibition will spotlight pieces from the Waterloo Center’s collection while branching out a few works found on Artstor to support our narrative.

We will explore, compare, and contrast how the femininity of Erzulie Freda and La Sirene is portrayed in Haitian art, within the materialities of drapo and metalwork. We will find narratives, shared and differing, between the two lwas. We will evaluate the prevalence of Erzulie Freda’s veve and the scarcity of La Sirene’s veve. In addition, we will study both physical, bodily depictions of the two lwas.

We will elaborate upon our observation that within metalwork, La Sirene is depicted in a bodily form more commonly than Erzulie Freda, who seems to be represented by her vèvè. Alongside clothing, this will include items the lwas are depicted with, such as Erzulie Freda’s knife-pierced heart and La Sirene’s golden comb. This will also take into account Erzulie Freda’s human body and La Sirene’s mermaid tail.

Haitian Drapo (Flags), also known as Drapo Vodou, are a physical representation of Haitian life and spirituality. They are ceremonial objects, retrieved from the sacred altar mid-ceremony by the swordmaster and the flag bearers, who bring the drapo into ceremony. The drapo’s arrival to the ceremony is the sign that the lwa it represents is approaching. When not in ceremony, drapo are leaned against the altar to recharge their power between ceremonies. The creation of drapo is a labor of love and spirituality by their artists: it takes patience, many hours, and a commitment. Haitian drapo are composed of various materials such as beads, sequins, fabrics, metallic thread, silks, and sometimes plastics and paint. These materials create a layered effect, and the glittering of the light reflections off of the beads and sequins attract the lwas in ceremony. Within one drapo, there are many layers of material and materials for one drapo can be sourced locally in Haiti, or even overseas from Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Metalwork has been present in Haitian art since the 1950s, it is a testament to the resourcefulness, creativity, and dedication of Haitian artists. The art originated with the influx of 55-gallon oil drums discarded near Port-au-Prince’s harbor as a result of the shipping of goods. Artists would pick up the drums, strip them of stickers and paint, cut them up, and pound them into a sheet using a hammer, chisel, or other materials. The artist credited with pioneering the Haitian metalwork movement was Georges Liautaud, a former factory worker who transitioned to creating metal crosses in the cemetery. Here was where he was “discovered” by Centre d’Art founder Dewitt Peters who funded and propelled Liautaud’s work. As Liautaud’s career went on he began to make pieces that were directly related to vodou, Christianity, and a mixture of the two. With his knowledge and influence, he passed his techniques to some of his young male apprentices such as Murat Brierre, Seresier Louis-Juste, and others. Although Liautaud taught and inspired the next generation of metalwork artists they did not all take on his style. Some employed the use of negative space while others focused on the use of positive space, color, or more dimensions. In the contemporary era, artists like Serge Jolimeau, who was influenced by Liautaud’s style, continue to lead the movement and incorporate the use of Vodun and Christian themes in their work. Nevertheless, the number of tourists that visit Haiti has led to the commodification of the art form which has caused the reduction of artistic value and cultural significance. The art form has evolved since its inception but maintains the things that make it uniquely Haitian.

Erzulie Freda is the Haitian lwa of romantic love and beauty. Associated with femininity, sensuality, and luxury, she is often depicted wearing a white dress and carrying a mirror or fan. In figure 1, a drapo by Clotaire Bazile titled “Erzulie Freda”, the lwa’s vèvè is depicted. In the drapo, we can see Erzulie Freda's associated colors, white and pink, being used: the vèvè itself is lined with a bold, scalloped white border, while there are not only pink squares in the background, but pink symbols next to the vèvè itself. In Haitian Vodou, white is considered a sacred and pure color, while pink is associated with love and femininity, and is particularly linked to Erzulie Freda. The white border around Erzulie Freda’s vèvè depicts a layer of sanctity separating her vèvè from all that is around it. The pink throughout the piece represents the essence of Erzulie Freda as the symbol of love and beauty. The artist’s choice to depict Erzulie Freda’s vèvè through the materiality of a drapo is very well fitted to Erzulie Freda’s identity. During our trip to the Waterloo Center for the Arts, we were able to observe this piece in person: it's beads and silk are inherently beautiful, and the light flickers off of the piece in a way that one can not help but to think Erzulie Freda would find beautiful and claim as her own.

La Sirene is Haiti’s lwa of the sea, beauty, love, music, and wealth and is often recognized by her distinct mermaid tail and light brown skin. She also carries with her a golden horn to call to others, a comb to detangle her long hair, and a mirror so that she never has a single hair out of place. She is the wife of the lwa Agwe, ruler of the sea and everything to do with it. La Sirene represents fluidity and flare, she is a half-human half-fish being of mixed-race descent who transcends categories but remains distinguishable. In Figure 2, Roudy Azor’s drapo called “La Sirene with Scarf”, she sports her mirror and comb but trades her horn for a rattle and a coffee cup, a nod to the French exploiting Haiti for sugar and coffee off the backs of the Indigenous and enslaved. Her beauty is magnified by her shimmering tail with beads of gold and pink to show luxury and femininity. Her top half is covered with a long blue shirt with gold trim and a white color lined with red. These are the colors of the Haitian flag. Though her hair is covered in this piece she does not fail to show off other feminine features with her long earrings and painted pink nails. Her connection to nature and sea as well as land is highlighted by the beautiful flowers of all colors that surround her as well as the fish that worship her. Azor’s drapo speaks to both La Sirene’s connection to nature and the sea as well as the land and the people. She is aware of the struggle of her people, and she assists in their path to freedom. Seeing this piece at the Waterloo Museum allowed me to see the different ways that La Sirene is portrayed, she is versatile but recognizable. 

Myrlande Constant weaves her identity as a female Haitian artist into her drapo. Constant's “Erzulie Freda” drapo is titled after Erzulie Freda, portraying a simple elegance which contrasts with the collage-like background of brightly colored vèvès and iconography. Meanwhile, Constant’s La Sirene drapo is decadently titled, “Matress La Sirene Diamond”. By giving the lwa an honorific and referencing a precious stone,  Constant highlights how La Sirene is the lwa of wealth. In both drapos, Constant has portrayed the two lwas in their bodily forms. Though in digital images, Erzulie Freda’s skin simply seems light-skinned, when viewing Constant’s “Erzulie Freda” drapo during our visit to the Waterloo Center, we noticed that Erzulie Freda is not being depicted just as a light-skinned figure, but her skin is actually pink—one of her dedicated colors—her identity is woven into her skin. In the “Matiress La Sirene Diamond” drapo, La Sirene is depicted as a dark-skinned woman, highly adorned with gold jewelry on her arms, around her neck, and in her hair, which Constant depicted as white. Like the title, these adornments highlight La Sirene as the lwa of wealth. In her drapo, Erzulie Freda is also adorned with a crown on her head and jewelry around her neck, which are brightly colored with gold and multicolored gemstones. This portrays Erzulie Freda as the lwa of luxury. Luxury and wealth, though different, are connected through adornment in Constant’s depictions of Erzulie Freda and La Sirene in drapo.

In Erzulie Freda’s drapo, she is surrounded by a collage of many of her vèvès. They are differently and brightly colored, many of them featuring her signature colors of pink and white. Contrastingly, in “Maitress La Sirene Diamond”, La Sirene is not surrounded by any vèvès, but by two other mermaids: the one on the left is holding a golden comb while the one on the right is blowing through a trumpet: two of the symbols of La Sirene. The central mermaid figure is La Sirene as “La Maitresse” ruling over all of the facets of her domain. Both Erzulie Freda and La Sirene are surrounded by what they represent in Constant’s drapos.

Femininity takes a different form in metalwork due to the nature of the art style being dominated by men. Artists like Georges Liataud have taken inspiration from La Sirene and her mermaid tail for half a century. Liataud’s metalwork employs the use of negative space, meaning that the background of the metal is carved to make a shape that gives the piece a fluid and airy feel. In Figure 5 we see Liataud carving out the space in order to make an image of La Sirene. He focuses on adding flower-like structures to the lower chest, stomach, and torso of the figure. Her mermaid tail is small but prominent and she holds her hands up as if in celebration or ceremony. However, when looking at the piece the traditional symbols of femininity are not present, with the exception of two perky bumps on the chest shaped as breasts. In this depiction, the lwa lacks her long hair and mirror. In doing this, Liataud forces his audience to distance themselves from European standards for beauty, art, and femininity and allow for the focus to be on what the deity stands for and what it means to the people rather than the beauty in its portrayal. On the contrary, La Sirene is a deity that symbolizes beauty and luxury so presenting her without her luxury defeats the purpose of personification of the god.

In Figure 6, Julio Gullno’s “Untitled” piece, a mermaid assumed to be La Sirene, wraps her tail around a cello. Gullno’s approach to La Sirene is centered around the importance of her tail, her long hair, and her connection to music. This piece highlights the role of the lwas as the bridge between human and spirit as La Sirene holds an object created by man. Gullno gives a nod to La Sirene’s love of luxury by detailing the piece with textures of different kinds. Her hair has small symmetrical bumps while her tail has larger bubbles. There is also a focus on ridges to create a harshness around the piece and carvings inside the piece to create definition. Both Liautaud and Gullno's approaches to La Sirene showcase the versatility and creativity of metalworking in challenging traditional representations of femininity. By taking inspiration from the deity and her mermaid tail, they were able to create unique and dynamic sculptures that capture the essence of what La Sirene means to the people of Haiti.

To examine the significance of Erzulie Freda and La Sirene’s typical depictions being respectively as a human woman and as a mermaid with a tail, we circle back to the Constant drapo depicting Erzulie Freda (Figure 3) while looking to Ronald Goulin’s depiction of La Sirene in his drapo titled “La Sirene” (Figure 7). In Figure 3, Erzulie Freda is depicted in the bodily form of a human woman whose crown of thorns, clasped hands, and shroud of blue and white fabric demonstrate the traditional portrayal of a Catholic Saint. This nods to the prevalence of the Catholic Religion in Haiti that began spreading after the Roman Catholic Church passed the Concordat of 1860, within which the Catholic Church forced Haiti to pay reparations to France, while Haitian individuality, education, spirituality, and culture would be stamped out and replaced with the Roman Catholic Church's beliefs and practices. Haitian artists fought against this by incorporating vodou deities and symbols into their artwork. The depiction of Erzulie Freda as a Catholic Saint nods to the tenacity of Vodou and the Haitian people through oppression, and centers Erzulie Freda, as the lwa of beauty, who also persisted through this and continues to represent beauty.

In the Goulin piece depicting La Sirene, La Sirene is depicted not only with her classic singular mermaid tail, but with three tails. This solidifies the important symbolism of La Sirene’s tail: it connects her as part of the ocean, just as Haiti is part of the ocean as an island nation. This is illustrated again in this drapo by her hair splaying out on each side of her head in the shape of ocean waves, and the glittering blue background behind her. La Sirene is part of the ocean itself, and she demonstrates its power in connection to Haitian Vodou. There is also an unknown vèvè centered on her chest, which contrasts with all of the Erzulie Freda vèvès that surround Erzulie Freda in her drapo. While the Erzulie Freda’s woman, human form in figure 3 demonstrates the persistence of Haiti as Vodou through oppression, La Sirene’s mermaid form and multiple tails in figure 7 depicts Haiti’s physicality and strength as part of the ocean.

Modern images of La Sirene make more direct nods to Christianity. Figure 8, Serge Jolimeau’s sculpture titled “La Sirene'' depicts the lwa of the sea with angel wings. Her tail is curved and bent like a tree branch and her arm is bent close to her body with her hand in the shape of a fist as if to signify resistance. Her tail has 7 holes which in the bible’s Genesis one represents the completion of the creation of nature and rest. In this piece, La Sirene is depicted more as a god or mythical creature than a human, she is an angel that transcends humans and stands on her own.

On the other hand, Lionel St. Eloi chooses a different route, his piece, Figure 9, “Untitled”, shows man’s dependence on La Sirene and the deities. A metal mermaid with blue, transparent, and reflective crystals holds her hands in a prayer-like position. There is a small man on her back holding her hair as if she were a horse on a rein. This shows the ways that man uses the lwas in order to further their own agendas, not always giving thanks for their assistance. The sculpture shares parallels to the Renaissance painting “Madonna col Bambino incoronata da angeli” or, “Madonna and Child crowned by angels” by Lorenzo Lotto where Jesus suckles the breast of Mary. The depiction of La Sirene in this way represents a complex and multifaceted understanding of femininity that is rooted in both African spiritual traditions and Christian influences. The use of Christian symbolism in contemporary artwork depicting La Sirene serves to highlight the nurturing and protective qualities associated with femininity while also elevating the lwa to a divine and transcendent status.

Figure 10 is a drapo titled “La Sirene'' by the artist Edmond and depicts a dark-skinned La Sirene sitting on a rock jutting out of the ocean with her signature golden comb and mirror close by. Figure 11, a Jean-Louis Edgar drapo titled, “Erzulie” depicts a light-skinned Erzulie Freda clutching her pierced heart. Much like figure 3, figure 10 illustrates many Catholic motifs in the depiction of Erzulie Freda: the halo around her head, and the blue and white vestments draped over her head. Erzulie Freda is surrounded by a few golden-colored iterations of her vèvè, and adorned with gold jewelry: a crown on her head and necklaces draped around her neck. Meanwhile, in the Edmond Drapo, La Sirene is depicted with hoop earrings and surrounded by brightly-colored flowers, and paired with her glittering brown mermaid tail, she is wearing a white and blue blouse. Once again, we see Erzulie Freda as the lwa of luxury and La Sirene as the lwa of wealth.

While Erzulie Freda’s hair is covered by the Catholic Vestments, La Sirene has braids cascading down her back. Though their clothing is both within a similar blue and white color palette, La Sirene and Erzulie Freda have very different demeanors in these drapo: Erzulie Freda is enclosed within her gesture of clutching her pierced heart, while La Sirene is at peace amidst the ocean waves surrounded by her comb and mirror. These depictions of the two lwa’s demonstrate different aspects of femininity: Erzulie Freda as a woman whose heart has been pierced in the pursuit of romance and who knows what it is to have been hurt, while La Sirene is a woman who is in tune with her environment and understands that wealth can come from treasuring what one has around them.

To focus on femininity at work with masculinity we look at figure 12: a drapo by Roudy Azor titled “Marriage-La Sirene Et Agoue”. The flag sports a variety of colors and textures, but the focus is on La Sirene and Agoue who sit upon a large orange fish in their wedding attire. In this work, the distinct shimmering red tail of La Sirene is nearly hidden under a long white dress adorned with plant-like features and two hearts mirroring the vèvè of Erzulie Freda, the lwa of love and marriage. Furthering the presence of Erzulie Freda we see a large orange fish with a bouquet of flowers which are sometimes used as an offering for her, highlighting the importance of nurturing in marriage. Behind the couple are two angel-like figures with golden horns, making the painting seem as though it were in a sacred church-like setting. It is interesting to note that Agoue is not centerstage—he is behind La Sirene with an arm around her. La Sirene is the focal point of the piece. Perhaps this relates to the fact that La Sirene is the lwa of the ocean, while Agoue is the lwa of aquatic life and sailing: they thrive together, but at the end of the day she is the heart of the ocean. This piece plays with both Erzulie Freda and La Sirene’s femininities while interacting with Agoue’s masculinity.

In our exhibition’s pieces, Agoue’s masculine presence takes a step back for the femininity to shine. In Vodou, one must consider that there is a certain gender fluidity that applies to the lwas. The gendering of the lwas began with the introduction of Catholicism into Haitian culture, in order to keep vodou alive lwas were associated with certain saints. This gave the illusion that the Haitian people were worshiping Catholic saints while actually paying homage to the lwas. As discussed with our professor and Grinnell College’s resident expert on Haitian art and culture, Dr. Petrouchka Moïse, informed us that for the lwas, the categorization of gender applies through the sense of their traits. The lwas are not necessarily gendered figures. For example, Erzulie Freda’s flirtatious and desireable nature is seen as feminine, but her vengeful side can be seen as masculine. In ceremony, a spirit whether traditionally depicted as masculine or feminine, may mount anyone regardless of gender, and the person mounted by the lwa will exhibit those features. Throughout our class experience, trip to the Waterloo center, and curation of this exhibition, we have discovered that depictions of Erzulie Freda and La Sirene’s femininity are not only an expression of gender, but an expression of Haitian resilience and beauty that never dies.

Figure 1 : “Erzulie Freda” Bazile, Clotaire (Haitian artist, born 1950). Erzulie Freda. Textile; Flag; Cloth, Sequins and Beads. Place: Waterloo Center for the Arts.

Figure 2: “La Sirene with Scarf” Azor, Roudy, (Haitian artist, born 1980). La Sirene with Scarf. Textile; Flag; Cloth; Sequins and Beads. Place: Waterloo Center for the Arts.

Figure 3: “Erzulie Freda” Constant, Myrlande (Haitian artist, born 1968). ca.1998-2001. Erzulie Freda. needlework (visual works); textile art (visual works); beadwork. Place: Waterloo Center for the Arts.  https://library.artstor.org/asset/34606457 .

Figure 4: “Maitress la Sirene Diamond” Constant, Myrlande (Haitian artist, born 1968). 2016. Maitress la Sirene Diamond. needlework (visual works); textile art (visual works).  https://library.artstor.org/asset/34559905 . 

Figure 5: Liataud, Georges (Haitian sculptor, born 1899). mid-1960s. Georges Liataud at work on a medium-sized 'La Sirene', Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti. sculpture (visual work); metalwork.  https://library.artstor.org/asset/31574310 .

Figure 6: “Untitled” Gullno, Julio. Untitled.  Metal. Place: Waterloo Center for the Arts

Figure 7: “La Sireine” Gouin, Ronald. La Sireine. Textile; Flag; Cloth; Sequins and Beads. Place:Waterloo Center for the Arts

Figure 8: “La Sirene” Jolimeau, Serge, (Haitian artist, born 1952). La Sirene. Metal. Place: Waterloo Center for the Arts

Figure 9: “Untitled” St. Eloi, Lionel (Haitian artist, born 1950). Untitled. Metal; Glass; Mirror. Place: Waterloo Center for the Arts

Figure 10: “La Sirene” St. Eloi, Lionel (Haitian artist, born 1950). Untitled. Metal; Glass; Mirror. Place: Waterloo Center for the Arts

Figure 11: “Erzulie” Jean-Louis, Edgar (Haitian artist and oungan, born 1921). Erzulie. ceremonial objects; flags. Place: Waterloo Center for the Arts. https://library.artstor.org/asset/GRINART__907_41452302.

Figure 12: “Marriage-La Sirene Et Agoue” Azor, Roudy, (Haitian artist, born 1980). Marriage-La Sirene Et Agoue. Beads; Sequin; Cloth. Place: Waterloo Center for the Arts.

Boisvert, Jayne. “In the Image of Erzulie Fréda: Literary Examples of the Goddess of Beauty, Love, and Support.” Journal of Haitian studies 13, no. 1 (2007): 99–109.

Drewal, Henry John. “Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas.” African Arts 41, no. 2 (2008): 60–83.  http://www.jstor.org/stable/20447886 .

Herskovits, Melville J. “African Gods and Catholic Saints in New World Negro Belief.” American Anthropologist 39, no. 4 (1937): 635–43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/662418.

Houlberg, Marilyn. “Sirens and Snakes: Water Spirits in the Arts of Haitian Vodou.” African Arts 29, no. 2 (1996): 30–101.  https://doi.org/10.2307/3337364 .

Szeles, Ursula. “Sea Secret Rising: The Lwa Lasirenn in Haitian Vodou.” Journal of Haitian Studies 17, no. 1 (2011): 193–210. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41711916.

Our class notes from Grinnell College's ARH-295 ST: Haitian Art and Visual Culture