Keisha Scarville: Where Salt Meets Black Water

Gather on the Brooklyn Museum's outdoor plaza and take a moment to remember and heal. Photographer Keisha Scarville, the 2026 winner of the UOVO Prize, was born in 1975 to Guyanese parents who had immigrated to New York. In this site-specific installation, she overlays portraits and still lifes onto abstract patterns—many sourced from garments owned by her late mother, Alma. The striking images, several of which are from her series _Mama's Clothes_, are filled with mesmerizing details that reward stepping back, looking closely, and reflecting on their meaning. The "black water" in the installation's title refers to bodies of water in Guyana that have been darkened by mineral-rich foliage, believed to carry healing properties. Blanketing our front stoop, Scarville's black-and-white photographs will offer their own form of healing. Bring friends and family to encounter these works and the memories they evoke, and experience a communal sense of renewal. Scarville is the sixth recipient of the UOVO Prize, which recognizes the work of emerging Brooklyn-based artists. Winners receive a solo presentation at the Brooklyn Museum, a commission for a 50-by-50-foot mural on the facade of UOVO's Brooklyn facility, and a $25,000 unrestricted cash grant. Scarville's work _Within/Between/Corpus (1)_ (2020), which reimagines an archival photograph that the artist's mother purchased upon moving to the United States, is displayed both on the facade of UOVO Brooklyn in Bushwick and in the Museum's plaza installation.