Ndebele Series - 2007-2013

My interest in this community began many years ago in the 1980s throughout

the 1990s when I traveled extensively to many parts of Africa, (Senegal, Gambia, Ivory

Coast, Egypt, and South Africa). During these trips, my curiosity was fueled in

understanding ancestry and the commonalities among African Americans and Africans.

Many years later after the completion of research, observations and time building

relationships with Africans and their families here in the United States and in the

respective African countries that I have visited, I began developing a body of work. Two

specific series of work created are “The Door of Return” (16 oil works on canvas) and

“Ndebele Dolls/Ritual/Play”(17 oil works on canvas). Both series were exhibited in 2006

and 2007 respectively at the Wolhfarth Gallery as solo exhibitions in Washington, D.C.

My focus at that time was to understand the resilience of the Africans in Senegal as they

went through slavery landmarked by the history of the slave trade in Goree Island, and the

key elements of survival for the Ndebele Communities as they went through Apartheid

and Revolution without a Civil War.