Hero
Hero II
Thomas' Sister
Portrait Of Phebe Brown Rigg
Portrait Of Emily
Portrait of Kin-na
Portrait of Albert Perkins
After George II
Portrait of Mrs. Joseph Smith
Portrait of Sargy Brown
Portrait Of Anthony Burns
Meditation
Pembroke Sons
Clap You Sang
Vanished
Profile of Kiah's Young Boy
Profile Of Henry Bibb
Portrait of Pauli Murray
Portrait of Ka-Le
Brutalizing and Infernalising
Portrait Of Charles C. Skinner
Stop The Whipping
Portrait Of Seymour Finney
Portrait Of Thomas Rutline
Portrait Of Stephen Pembroke
Profile Of Lewis Clarke
Portrait of Emily Russell
Support I
Support II
Portrait Of Jupiter
Profile Of Lewis Clarke
Portrait Of Edward Taylor
Portrait Of Langston Hughes
Portrait Of Fu-Li
“Homage to Slaves” is a series of oil and wax portrait paintings on marble.
It consists of 30 portraits representing my visual interpretation of the mind of the slave from 1736 to 1878. The idea came after reading Slave Testimony, a book edited by the late John W. Blassingame (1977) presenting 111 letters, 8 speeches, 129 interviews, and 13 autobiographies. The documents cover 42 years of sources revealing the psychological emotions, memories, perceptions, and cognitions that slaves consciously or unconsciously narrated as true. The book caused a profound effect on me and hence, I took the liberty to give an imaginary face to those slaves whose writings aroused a strong emotional response. Each painting is displayed alongside the inspirational passages to involve the viewer in the unifying rendition of the cognitive and
experiential process.
The rationale for using marble is because it has important elements for my paintings. For example, marble has a physical and solid presence, a unique natural beauty, and is composed of layers of time which are clearly visible throughout its surface. Marble, at an intrinsic level, may be analogous for human life within a state of oneness, beyond time, and through the significance of sameness.
For this series I have allowed the marble veins be exposed through the paint to reminisce scars as the ontogenesis of vulnerability and resilience. By merging paint, marble (strength), and the marble veins (scar hypothesis) with the imaginary portraits of the slave from his or her narrative, I have made a visual interpretation of the slave’s powerful strength and of his or her resilience.
Homage to Slaves is part of my collection and available for exhibition Ideally, I would like this series to become a part of a permanent public collection.
