04/18/2026
What a day for celebration! A few hours ago, Rainbow Serpent unveiled our first monumental public sculpture: “This Is the Body of the Sun.” This 8ft cast aluminum sculpture with gold gilding is our reinterpretation of the Ancient Egyptian deity of the sun, Ra. For us, this figure symbolizes leadership, sovereignty, and inner heroism.
We pray that this work will serve as a solar and spiritual beacon for Arts Landing, the City of Pittsburgh, and all who encounter it. May we all shine as brightly as we can, inspire each other with ethical clarity, and use our talents in the service of communal uplift.
The collar features a hieroglyphic hymn to Ra from the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Each glyph is meticulously sculpted onto the 12 lines of the collar. An excerpt is below:
“Ascribe praise to Ra, the Lord of Heaven; the Prince of Life, Strength, and Health; Creator of the Gods. Adore ye Him in His beautiful presence in His rising in the atet boat. The House of the Prince is in festival, the sound of those that rejoice is in the mighty dwelling. The Gods are rejoicing when they see Ra in His rising; His beams flood with light the countries. Mayest Thou be at peace with me, may I see Thy beauties.”
First, a big thank you to Emerald Kane who served as the model for the sculpture and is a daily embodiment of Ra’s luminous virtues. Thanks to Kendra Whitlock Ingram, Anastasia James, and the team at the The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust for supporting the work in its incarnation journey. Also many thanks to Heather McElwee and Pittsburgh Glass Center for supporting our first iteration of this work, “Myth-Science of the Gatekeepers,” where we brought Ra to life alongside 15 other deities as glass sculptures in 2024. We are grateful as always to our arts community in Pittsburgh for all of your support. Thank you for providing us with the space to bring African cosmologies into public space, from our “Three Sisters” light installation on the Sister Bridges, to our 1200 sq ft installation “Playing the Cosmic Strings” which is still on view down the street from Arts Landing at Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
