Here
is my new painting: ‘Mothers’, a self portrait (60 cm x 76 cm paint on canvas with photographs).
I love the genre of self portraiture and the freedom of expression it brings. I painted the self
portrait ‘Mothers’ because I wanted to explore the concept of heritage (physical,
cultural, emotional, spiritual) and womanhood.
I have Native American heritage and am connected to Kenyan culture hence
the hair style, choker style necklace and wrapped material. The necklace
depicts my female family tree, showing the eyes of my mother, mother-in-law,
grandmothers, great grandmothers…etc. I
focused on the females in my family tree because of the emphasis on womanhood and
the influence mothers have. The pose is unusual; I chose to look at the viewer
as if I were looking down to give the impression of strength and power. I wanted to convey that my heritage and the women/mothers
that are part of that heritage, empower me.
