Winfred Rembert developed a singular practice of carving and painting images into leather. He learned leather tooling while incarcerated in Georgia, but did not turn fully toward autobiographical scenes until the late 1990s.
His works recall childhood in Cuthbert, Georgia: cotton fields, juke joints, chain gangs, family gatherings and specific people whose stories he wanted to carry forward.
The physical depth of tooled leather gives his recollections a sculptural presence. In Seven Voices, Rembert’s self-taught practice stood in productive contrast to artists formed through academies and print workshops.
