# @hyperallergic on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DQUFbsHj4qP
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/36304075-hyperallergic-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/a543f71aaa.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-10-27T13:09:20.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Hyperallergic (@hyperallergic) — https://gondola.cc/hyperallergic

## Caption

In the hands of Reverend Joyce McDonald, clay becomes testimony. She models small-scale figures of Black people whose presence and poise convey the quiet labors of love. “Ministry,” the artist’s current survey at the Bronx Museum, pays homage to this intimate care. Nearly 80 sculptures are assembled on tiered white pedestals arranged like altars. Every work is minute enough to cradle in two hands yet radiates a monumental spiritual grace.

McDonald began making these pieces in 1997 through an art therapy program that helped her process her HIV diagnosis, transforming that experience into a lifelong spiritual and creative practice. As an ordained minister and advocate through Visual AIDS, she channels faith and care into clay, shaping a ministry of resilience and love. 

Read Alexandra M. Thomas’s full review of “Ministry” at the link in bio.
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1 - Installation view of “Ministry: Reverend Joyce McDonald” at the Bronx Museum (photo by Argenis Apolinario, 2025, courtesy the Bronx Museum) 

2 - Joyce McDonald, “Covered with Love” (2003), acrylic and fabric on air-dry clay (photo Alexandra M. Thomas/Hyperallergic) 

3 - Joyce McDonald, “Sweet Peace” (2007), acrylic, Mod Podge, and fabric on air-dry clay (photo Alexandra M. Thomas/Hyperallergic) 

4 - Joyce McDonald, “Colin Kaepernick” (2020), acrylic, Wite-Out, varnish, and nail polish on air-dry clay (photo Alexandra M. Thomas/Hyperallergic) 

5 - Joyce McDonald, “The McDonalds” (1999), acrylic on air-dry clay and found objects (photo Alexandra M. Thomas/Hyperallergic) 

#JoyceMcDonald #Sculpture #Clay #BronxMuseum #VisualAIDS

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## Tags

visualaids, sculpture, joycemcdonald, bronxmuseum, clay

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