‘Expressions of Jesus’: Artists are sharing their love for the Savior through their own vernacular

Laura James grew up in a tight-knit Caribbean neighborhood in New York City, where her family attended a local Brethren church. The denomination, which traces its roots to 18th-century Germany, practiced an austere form of worship: bare walls, a piano, unadorned window frames. The only pop of color came from children’s Bibles, where Jesus was depicted with yellow hair and Black people looked gray, typically portrayed as servants.

James, an artist and illustrator of Antiguan heritage, felt disconnected from these images and eventually, the faith itself. “It wasn’t about me,” she says. “This did not seem like anything I wanted to do with.”

Later, in her neighborhood bookstore, she stumbled on a book of Ethiopian Magic Scrolls. The images of Black angels on the cover captivated her. She beg