Paint Me Black Angels is a project in which Fleuri La Belle combines her profession as a jewellery artist with a craft she has been practising for over two years: pole dance. The project draws inspiration from the 1953 song Angelitos Negros, performed by Eartha Kitt, which is based on the 1943 poem Píntame Angelitos Negros by Andrés Eloy Blanco.
In the poem, Blanco addresses a painter who shares his ancestry, asking why he paints only white angels and never Black ones. This question becomes a powerful critique of the absence of Black representation in religious iconography, transforming the poem into a broader protest against racism and the cultural dominance of whiteness.
In Fleuri La Belle’s work, the performance tells a story in which a ball-and-chain jewellery piece symbolises racism and restrictive thoughts that weigh her down. Through dance, she gradually breaks free, ascending heavenward on the pole and transforming into a Black angel.
‘My latest work builds on these threads and represents a synthesis of my practice as a young jewellery artist. Since graduating, I’ve immersed myself in pole dance – a physically expressive form that has become central to how I create and move through the world.
Although I identify as a jewellery artist, my background is not rooted in traditional jewellery-making techniques. Instead, movement, mythology, my Congolese heritage, poetry, and sound continually shape my practice. I’m drawn to how jewellery interacts with the body. It is not a static, precious object confined to display cases, but something dynamic and fluid – part of a breathing, living form. Jewellery, for me, is an extension of the self: emotionally, spiritually, and physically.’
‘In this work, I designed a ball-and-chain jewel. But the piece isn’t just about the object — it’s about the choreography, the narrative, the feeling. The jewel becomes a performer in its own right, an element within a larger ritual involving movement, dance, poetry, mythology, and song.
This project is a convergence of everything I’ve been exploring so far: adornment, ancestry, embodiment, resistance, transformation. I know there are many layers to my work, and sometimes it can be difficult to articulate them all. But at its core, I’m working to reimagine what jewellery can be — how it moves, what it remembers, and who it serves.’
Fleuri La Belle is an artist working in the fields of contemporary jewellery design and performance art. She graduated in 2022 from ArtEZ University of the Arts with a BA in Product Design with her finals collection Embracing Black. Fascinated by afrofuturism, mythologies and movement she visualises worlds with her imagination.
Artist: fleurilabelle
Credits: Funded by Cultuurfonds Gelderland cultuurfondsgelderland
Videography & edit: Moonsetmedia
Choreography: Fleuri La Belle with international pole artist Kheanna Walker kheannawalker
Do you have a new collection or a new body of work that’s simply dazzling? We want to hear from you! And remember, there’s no deadline – we welcome submissions throughout the whole year!
Every submission is a potential gem, and our team takes great care in handpicking projects that resonate with the contemporary scene. To submit your work, just email high-resolution images (5-10 pcs), image credentials, social media tag, work description (max 250 words), and artist bio (max 250 words) to veronika@current-obsession.com.
