Praying Hands by Jessie Nixon Alexander

Praying Hands by Jessie Alexander

Medium: colored pencil

Size: 12 in x 9 in

Artist statement:

The fire represents the power of the holy spirit.

Jessie was released from a life sentence by way of medical release in May of 2020. You can read more about PA’s Medical Release process here, what we really need is Compassionate release. There is nothing compassionate about the amount of paperwork and proof you need to explain to the PA Department of Corrections that you are at the end of your life.

This piece is not for sale.

The image is a white rectangle colored pencil illustration mounted on a red backing. Around the edges of the white paper, some glue shows through allowing the red to show through the transparent areas. In the center of the image are two medium brown skinned hands held together in a cup shape with the tops of the knuckles and fingers facing forward and the nails pointing upward. There are two white sleeves surrounding the wrists and are open to form trapezoid like shapes underneath. The hands are holding flames that reach up to the top of the page in colors of red, yellow and orange, with a darker pencile drawn around the edges. In the bottom right corner is the artist's signature and intials with the year "2021" listed in quotes.
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