Zombie Jamboree

For Zombie Jamboree, Morrison drew on a personal lexicon of myths and images. Both sacred and secular, it derives simultaneously from the memory of the death of a childhood friend and the artist’s encounter with Christianity and vodun, the religion traditional to his native Jamaica. The large central figures are fantastical animals—a spotted hyena-like creature with bared teeth that sparks an impression of evil and greed confronts a protective horse while a hissing snake, the Christian symbol of sin, hovers above. Dotted around this improbable cast of characters are Christian crosses, dancing skeletons, and two black figures, one wearing a mask the other with arms raised, suggesting African rituals.