God’s Presence, installation view, artist's studio, Miami, Florida, counterclockwise clock, 10.25" April 28th, 2020. Photo © Alian Rives' Studio

God’s Presence transforms an ordinary instrument for measuring time into an object of contemplation, placing the experience of time between the secular and the sacred. Its circular form suggests cycles, eternity, and recurrence, while the continuous movement of the clock’s hands introduces the passage of time as an inescapable human condition.

The use of white is central to the work. Across many spiritual and religious traditions, white carries associations with purity, transcendence, illumination, peace, and the presence of the divine. In Caribbean spiritual practices, white also holds particular significance as a color associated with spiritual elevation, cleansing, protection, and communication with the sacred. Here, however, the white surface remains deliberately ambiguous: it can suggest both divine presence and emptiness, revelation and absence.

By placing the clock within the gallery, I transform the exhibition space into a site of contemplation. The object does not represent God directly; instead, it points toward an invisible presence through the measurement of time. The clock continually marks something that cannot be stopped or possessed, suggesting a presence that exists beyond human control.