God’s Battle Axe pays homage to Zora Neale Hurston’s inspiration and creative process for her last unpublished manuscript ‘The Life of Herod the Great.’ Through research of the Zora Neale Hurston Papers at George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, and published works that reveal the influences of religion in her early life, this work is an ode to Zora Neale Hurston’s courage to deviate from her accepted canonical work. Sauda Mitchell in particular focuses on Hurston’s sketch book for ‘Herod the Great,’ which contains handwritten research notes about the book.

Through an embedded QR code, God’s Battle Axe links to Zora Neale Hurston’s 1955 handwritten letter to Margrit Sabloniere in which she describes ‘ Life of Herod the Great’ as such…“ I am trying something more difficult than ever before.” [Hurston,Z.N. Handwritten Letter], Zora Neale Hurston Papers, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

The book offers a sensory experience. The enclosure is a reliquary, which pulls from the fashion of Zora and the Harlem Renaissance, including velvet, an antique broach, and black feathers. A small book is nestled inside the enclosure, where Mitchell sketches what Zora wrote in her sketchbook for ‘Herod the Great,’ such as columns, mosaics, musical instruments, the specific colors of ochre, Mars orange, yellow and blue. There is an intentional weight to the book that juxtaposes with the softness of the piece.

Listen to artist Sauda Mitchell discuss God’s Battle Axe and her archival research on It’s All About Zora with Rae Chesney, presented by the Zora Neale Hurston Trust: