ARTIST STATEMENT/Nubia
The zebroid series involves my search for aesthetic harmonies
in natural objects and life forms and drawing correlations to the realm of humanity. My quest has been the exploration for universal design elements- a unity of diversity in all things. There is a principle in zoology called, disruptive coloration, a survival mechanism in nature, innate to many species like the zebra. Its stripe patterns function as a unique defensive weapon against every predator (except man) because in its natural habitat, the zebra can't hide. However, when the herd is on the run, a phenomenon known as a "dazzle" occurs in which the individual patterns of black, brown, auburn, ochre and white flow like colored waves suspended in air, fusing into an animated abstract design. The best possibility for the zebra to survive in the wild is to live in close proximity to its community, which by design, becomes virtually invisible to the confused predator's eyes. The amalgamation of animal pattern and human form became my muse and emerged as a metaphor for humanity.
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Welcome to my gallery! What you see on this page represents my passions. African art and interior design. SunFire African Art Gallery offers high quality authentic African tribal antiques and fine contemporary art in a mind-blowing setting. I am a magnet for that which is unique and of the highest quality; this can be seen through the art I choose to offer to my clientele, as well as through my interior design projects that transform client’s environments into the most unique expression of their inner selves. Thus remembering our reality is a reflection of how we perceive ourselves.Why African Art? African art is the perfect expression of our ability as humans to be in a constant state of co-creation. The ancient people of Kemet (Egypt) kept written record of high spiritual truths in their architectural structures and statues of stone. These traditions have not been lost and this repetitive story of man’s awakening to his own divinity is still being told through the masks, sculptures and tribal traditions of Africa.My desire is to help preserve this awe-inspiring art form for all to experience in the cycles to come. It is my goal to create collectors so that this art can be appreciated the way it was intended, in intimate settings by individuals, shared with families and within communities.Why African Art? Because, historically within the African American and other communities, African art has been viewed as taboo, when in fact it has high spiritual significance. Many of the spiritual teachings have been held back or convoluted, causing a great divide between African traditions and people of the world.While we have come to appreciate these objects for their beauty and aesthetic quality as art, it was never their intended purpose.“For groups, as well as individuals, life itself means to separate and to be reunited, to change form and condition, to die and be reborn. It is to act and to cease, to wait and rest, and then to begin acting again, but in a different way. And there are always new thresholds to cross: the thresholds of summer and winter, of a season or a year, of a month or a night, the thresholds of birth, adolescence, maturity, and old age, the thresholds of death and that of afterlife – for those of us who believe.And for those who believe, there are the arts – the songs, music, costumes, dances and the sculptures – that intensify, activate, and bring life to the rituals that celebrate the times of transition, the crossings of the thresholds that are the focal points of the cycle of life.Thus from the primordial ancestors to the most recent birth, there is a sense of flow and continuity, a basic pattern to the span of a life. To this pattern, the sculptures of Africa lend substance and authority†(African Art in the Cycle of Life, Roy sieber and Roslyn Adele Walker).
