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BIO
Melissa Lyn is a Jamaican Visual Artist that creates images of fragmented heritage that
crosses time and culture. Her portraits, rich in symbolism and historical dialogue, move
between ancestral memory and present realities, offering a way of seeing that is both
grounded in research and guided by intuition. By linking biblical narratives, African heritage
and Caribbean identity, Melissa encourages her audience to look closer at the histories often
left untold.
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At age 18, Melissa was reunited with her father, who is from Kwahu, Ghana. The experience
redefined her understanding of self and reshaped her artistic purpose. Through Melissa’s
series of Reimagining Ancestors, she explores how stories once fragmented by colonialism
can be pieced together again through art. Her portraits not only retell history; they question
what we’ve been taught to believe, reconfiguring narratives of African and Caribbean
identity that were once silenced or distorted.
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“When I look at the faces of my ancestors and that of the people in my everyday life, I see biological numeric algorithms. Etymologically, all these identities, African, Negro, Caribbean etc prove historically that we are the same people who broke up into various tribes. The traditions and customs based on historical influences may be different, but without a doubt or
contradiction, we are who our ancestors were.”
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In 2022, Melissa received 3 Gold medals and Best Artist in the category of Drawing at the
JCDC Visual Arts Competition.
Her works earned multiple local and international features such as
Art & Woman Book Edition 2 (2025), Mango Seed Collective Journal (2025), Artly Mix Cultural Space Brazil (2023), The Sky Gallery Jamaica (2023) and The Jamaica Gleaner (2018).
Melissa’s studio project Reimagining Nanny appeared in the National Gallery of Jamaica’s "The Face of Us" catalog.
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MY ART
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People are spiritual creation concepts.
Each person adapts to their time.
From Melissa’s award winning work Reimagining Nanny: Avatar Erzulie, to her reflections on
Christ as a celestial being, Melissa unpacks how ancestral knowledge, spirituality and
scholarship coexist in her studio practice. Melissa’s commitment to the living truth found in
stories, symbols and the people who carry them, is a rediscovery of her ancestral lineage in
an effort to awaken purpose.
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“The “proverb and byword” narratives in colonial discourse by people of African descent
towards each other, has resulted in Negroes all over the globe to assimilate into segregation;
thus severing ties between powerful nations of people who were once a unified,
indomitable force.”
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“This traumatic conditioning of the mind has created taboos, mass hysteria and even
structural violence and discrimination, especially towards indigenous groups of Negroes. It
has unfortunately resulted in a malicious misrepresentation of African identities, whereby
such peoples have become the victims of perpetual genocides, rape, poverty, cultural
appropriations, natural resource wars, replacement and displacement theology.”
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“In an assiduous effort, I created this series of reimagining ancestors to share with my
audience the truths about ancestral groups, by way of symbols. So far the symbols have
helped to arouse curiosity and foster a discussion. It’s a strategic way for me to
accommodate the bulk of information and thought process behind creating the pieces.”
“I create portraits that move beyond likeness, they are visual research projects that speak to ancestry, migration and spiritual lineage.”
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“Understanding who I am often begins with asking who came before me. There’s
empowerment and liberation that comes with understanding your identity in life. Biblical
references, African cosmology and time inform my creative process. I retell history through pop culture visual expressions that are appealing to younger audiences, as the mission is to educate and empower future generations.”
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"When I met my dad a few years ago, I became aware of my African roots which stemmed from Ghana. Our conversations drove me to do more research on my Ghanaian background. The deeper I got into this rich history, I started to feel more whole."
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“By studying the Bible and other literature, I have found that the indigenous peoples have been the perpetual victim of European genocides, rape, poverty, cultural appropriations, natural resource wars, replacement, and displacement theology. (Deuteronomy 28: 15 - 68)
This has unfortunately displaced millions of innocent people in the name of religious imperialism and expansionism.”
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"Many African Tribes’ cultures are identical to that of the Biblical Bantu Hebrews,
for e.g.: Congo, Zulu, Ewe, Ashanti, Yoruba, Shona, etc. “African languages can be traced back to Ancient Bantu Hebrew, for e.g.: Swahili, Ndebele, Kikongo, Tswana etc."
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IN STUDIO
"This continuous research answered a lot of the questions I had. Society, in all its glory and amusement, has been built from the blood, sweat and tears of black people. Read the Bible, it's a valid reference to our history!”
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“By being afflicted, we are then corrected and hopefully will return to who we are - a royal priesthood. (1 Peter 2: 9)
We have absolutely no knowledge of our true identity as Israelites.”
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"I'm trying to let people know and become more aware of that, by means of conversation & in some sense through my artwork."
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However, due to adverse circumstances, she ended her studies at the college and began to explore viable opportunities in art.
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