Atavist Artwork
Expressions in Form and Spirit
Harmony of the Ancestors
This painting was created at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during a time of personal challenge and deep inner searching. It marks the (re)start of my visual art journey...a reaching inward for symbolic meaning, balance, and peace.
Each image carries spiritual and cultural resonance, drawing from Adinkra wisdom, Kongo cosmology, and broader African symbology that speak to creation, continuity, and transformation.
At the center, the Kongo cosmogram anchors the design, representing the cycle of life—birth, death, rebirth, and the eternal presence of spirit. Encircling it are Adinkra symbols that hold layered messages of resilience, cooperation, and divine order:
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Sankofa: a bird looking backward while moving forward, reminding us to draw wisdom from the past.
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Asase Ye Duru: the earth has weight; a symbol of Mother Earth’s power, grounding all creation.
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Dwennimmen (Ram’s Horns): humility and strength in balance, echoing courage with grace.
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Aya (Fern): endurance and resourcefulness, thriving even through hardship.
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Boa Me Na Me Mmoa Wo: mutual aid and interdependence; the call to support and uplift one another.
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Mpatapo: reconciliation and peace, the binding knot that resolves conflict.
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Nyame Dua: the sacred altar tree, symbol of divine protection and blessings.
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Nyansapo: wisdom, ingenuity, and clarity of thought, the essence of discernment.
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Nsoromma: the star; a reminder that we are children of the heavens, connected to the divine order.
Around and within these motifs appear cowrie shells, long honored as vessels of wealth, femininity, and spiritual power, and the snake biting its tail (ouroboros), signifying wholeness and eternal return. The Chiwara, the Bambara antelope figure,dances on the right, representing agriculture, creativity, and human partnership with the earth. Below, the home made from earth and shaped by hands speaks to rootedness and the sacred act of building from what the earth provides.
The Bacuta mask and geometric borders trace cultural continuities across Central and West Africa, linking ancestral wisdom to present creation. The moon and crescent mirror the sunburst on the opposite side, forming a balance between night and day, masculine and feminine, struggle and renewal.
Together, these symbols form a spiritual map, a visual prayer for alignment between inner and outer worlds. This work carries my gratitude to the ancestors and teachers whose lessons taught me that creation itself is an act of healing, and that art can hold the weight of both remembrance and becoming.
Mothers of the River
Keepers of Memory
The crocodile in this piece is both memory and messenger. It recalls the carved wooden crocodile from my childhood home—an emblem of protection and quiet strength. A guardian of thresholds, it moves between water and land, seen and unseen, reminding us that survival and transformation are sacred acts.
In this work, I return to the forest home of my ancestors, the Maka of southeastern Cameroon.
The forest knows, feels, and remembers me and its roots hold the memory of those who came before. Cacao pods carry the lessons of transformation: sweet, bitter, and strong. They speak of nourishment, transformation, and paradox—the pungent sweetness of fresh fruit and the bitter strength of what becomes chocolate.
Family, too, is a tree: its roots dig deep, its branches stretch wide, and its sap carries the mission of those who came before us.
The women represent both the living and the ancestral, their presence spanning generations.
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The radiant central figure, adorned in gold and beadwork, embodies joy, fertility, and resilience, a vessel of living heritage.
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The woman in white, serene and luminous, honors the sacred feminine roles within water-based initiation traditions and rites of passage.
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The ancestral figure with white-painted eyes and ornate headdress represents the deified matriarchs and wisdom-bearers who guide from beyond the veil.
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The woman in earth tones, wearing a towering headpiece, stands for dignity and continuity, the weight of history carried forward with grace.
Together, in unity, they honor the balance of life, the wisdom of the soil, and the endurance of our lineage, honoring the land, the women, and the ancestors who continue to walk with me.
Celestial Harmony:
The Union of Light and Legacy
This painting carries the energy of balance, protection, and presence. It holds stories of ancestry, spirit, and love woven together through symbols, color, and light.
At the center, four connected beings emerge, each one a reflection of identity and transformation. In the foreground, a man and a woman stand in quiet power, their crowns marked with heritage and divine purpose. Between them rests Eban, the Adinkra symbol for safety and protection, a reminder that community, love, and shared vision create the strongest walls of refuge.
Behind them, two luminous faces blend - one golden, one blue - bridging what is seen and unseen, the spiritual and the material. They remind us that the worlds we walk are never separate, that intuition and ancestry are always speaking to one another.
Above them, the sun and moon move in rhythm—the eternal dance of masculine and feminine, light and shadow, reason and feeling. Their orbit reminds us that we are held by more than time.
At the base, the Swahili words “Kweli iwe katika upendo na upendo katika kweli” mean “Truth is in love, and love is in truth.” This is the heart of the painting. When truth and love move together, we find balance, safety, and the strength to keep becoming.
