Echoes Of Heritage

In this commanding canvas, I invoke the visage of an African mask as the locus of cultural memory and identity.

The mask, executed with a palpable textural intensity, emerges as both an ancient artifact and a living presence, a sentinel amidst the cacophony of modernity's dissonance. Around it, a storm of brushwork—jagged, furious, and unabashedly bold—conjures the urban energy of New York City, where I lived.

It is a sophisticated homage, a conversation across decades that interrogates the African diasporic experience with a fresh, unyielding voice. Symbols, some clear and some cryptic, punctuate the composition like the vestiges of a dream half-remembered or perhaps a future half-envisioned.

What is most arresting about the piece is its uncompromising assertion of self—the African "I" in contrast to the Western "eye"—challenging the viewer to acknowledge the diversity of narratives woven into the present fabric. This work does not simply hang on the wall; it demands to be confronted to be reckoned with.

It is a testament to the enduring power of art to bear witness to the individual soul and yet to speak in tongues that resonate with universal truths.

30x40 inches
Acrylics on Canvas
Dallas - 2023