![MO Botanical Garden [09.25]](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/da1932ea-7e63-45fc-b36c-32f89e4c3348/1f848189-d1d2-4ae2-8fed-a6f7a6a67070_rw_1920.jpg?h=c8e0c4e1e54e99089ccbeacb0c61cd3e)
MO Botanical Garden [09.25]
![Family Photo; Democratic Republic of Congo [1983]](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/da1932ea-7e63-45fc-b36c-32f89e4c3348/e68200b9-329a-4df9-9a1d-e13e9ef99ac9_rw_1920.jpg?h=1791c30503da396ee20f944c82b18782)
Family Photo; Democratic Republic of Congo [1983]
![MO Botanical Garden [09.25]](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/da1932ea-7e63-45fc-b36c-32f89e4c3348/006a1af4-6f13-42eb-9a07-83cda0c8daf6_rw_1920.jpg?h=932dea18a6365ff907d27e64cc986bdf)
MO Botanical Garden [09.25]
![Mom's Graduation; Democratic Republic of Congo [1994]](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/da1932ea-7e63-45fc-b36c-32f89e4c3348/b0c88978-50a9-4a9e-a91e-e601caa2a8d5_rw_1920.jpg?h=b84c3cbe761fc752cc8824d2b5309430)
Mom's Graduation; Democratic Republic of Congo [1994]
Conceptualizing Home is an ode to the fight for global solidarity against colonization and systemic oppression.
Throughout this series, fruit is a metaphor, symbolizing indigeneity and colonial resistance. Olives and watermelons are two fruits that hold deep cultural ties to the Palestinian plight for liberation and will repeatedly show up in this series of paintings. Along with olives and watermelon, seeded organic structures and tropical fruit also appear, aligning the shared colonized cultures across the Global South. My creative process centered working loosely and intuitively, exploring the underlying themes of natural and cultural preservation, research, and close attentiveness to the dreary state of modern-day colonial damage shaped the process. Working within an abstract lens allowed me to honestly articulate much of my charged reactions in response to the state of the world.
BARREN DISCOMFORT measures four feet by six feet and was created using acrylic paint, oil pastel, and colored pencil on canvas. Color held a significant role in this piece as I intentionally used red, black, and white for the Palestinian and Sudanese flags and red, yellow, and blue to symbolize the Democratic Republic of Congo. It holds heavy importance for me as a second-generation Congolese, Rwandan, and Nigerian to highlight the beauty amongst fellow intersecting, marginalized communities through unionizing our struggles. There are abstracted watermelons, olives, and mangoes weaving themselves between branches of abstraction. The color palette of this piece is neutral compared to my other compositions.
CASCADING SPROUT measures eleven inches by fourteen inches. I used gouache, watercolor, and colored pencil on Bristol. The concept of sprouting seeds and pods of seeds existing on abstracted fruit directly ties in with seed saving, an indigenous agricultural practice used for cultural preservation. Seeds also hold reverence as a symbol of hope, as do pastel colors. The light, breathy composition of CASCADING SPROUT indirectly references beginnings and contrasts with the dense compositions typical of my artwork.
At fourteen inches by eleven inches, GRIEVING FRUIT boldly and vividly highlights the bitterness and mournfulness that comes from witnessing modern day mass murder from the diaspora. Inspired by Billie Holiday's song, this piece serves as remembrance of what was been stolen from us; it is our livelihood being personified through the carceral imagery of rotting and bleeding fruit. The very fruit that knows the soil, the memories that refuse to lose themselves.
IRRIGATE is eighteen inches by twenty-four inches and uses gouache, watercolor, oil pastel, and colored pencil on watercolor paper. This piece features many organic curves and some fruit imagery, though the shapes in this painting resemble cellular structures. This composition is inspired by the act of preserving the continuous flow of water to flourish crops. Each indigenous culture has a varying style of structuring the land to feed the community, which is a beautiful concept to highlight. This piece honors my intuitive process; it gives me the space to actively learn and know as I go instead of stressing an expectation on the finality of an incomplete body of work. Although irrigation is a thoroughly structured process, the act of water preservation within the continuous streams of water aligns heavily with my thought process within this project. Embracing experimentation within my creative process without the bounds of confinement acutely shapes the scope of my work.
