Ubuntu Statement

Ubuntu is a concept of how to be a human being, understanding that there is a difference between being a human and being a human being. If one doesn’t care about what is happening around them they are the first one but when one cares and does something about it they are being ubuntu. One can be ubuntu only through the relationship one has with others.

As an artist my belief is that I have to inform my viewers about what makes me sad, mad and confounds me. What causes me to react?

Through my art I represent different stories. Story telling is an art. In Africa they have griot that tell you stories from the time when the stone where still soft. It is also an art that is disappearing because we have all the information at our fingertip.

Because of the media and the technology we have today we don’t care about what we see and what we hear. We use excuses. It is far away. It is not the same here, but things are occurring everywhere.

Through the stories I choose to represent today, I am going to demonstrate that wherever we live in the world we are all the same and we experience the same things too.

I choose to represent women because I think that women have more tendencies to put mask on and go on with their normal business. As a mother my first duty is to make my children as strong as they can be. I am always telling them stories. Story time was always a time of learning and fun when I was a child. It was my favorite time of the day.

I see my stories not as feminist but being the archetype feminine, the old pagan earth goddess. When being women represented power, sweetness, and the power of giving birth.

The women represented in my stories where all willing to convey their stories. The stories range from sad to funny. With some stories the person wanted to remain anonymous and so a single letter will represent them.

Each story made me realize that it was also about myself, while working I identified with each piece. Some stories have been with me for a certain time and I have such a strong attachment to them that I decided to reinterpret them. Some of them are legends but they give so much hope that I love to tell them.

Having lived for so long in Africa, African art has always influenced me, I am also influenced by Picasso and cubism. Frida kalho is also one of my influences for the way she painted her reality.