Art Links Generations

The art of Maya Freelon Asante ’05 graces the album cover of a Grammy-nominated singer—her mother, Nnenna Freelon. Asante’s tissue-paper collage adorns Better Than Anything, the jazz vocalist’s latest release on Concord Records.

Asante says the artwork was inspired by her mother and grandmother. After stumbling upon delicate pieces of old tissue paper in her grandmother’s basement, she began integrating it into her work.

“Creating the portrait mosaic of my mother using a tissue-paper technique inspired by my grandmother linked three generations of first-born women in my family,” she says. “Tissue paper represents the fragility of people, the environment, and the world. As little fragments are pieced together, they transform into something stronger and more beautiful than just individual scraps.”

Asante accompanied Freelon last year on her world tour, photographing performances and planning future projects.