Provenance

 

sacred objects in which we rest
beloved spirit / life after flesh

Provenance is a sculptural project where I am using cowrie shells in a representational manner for a conversation about form.
The shells stand in for themselves, once a currency, a devalued monetary system as the TransAtlantic Slave Trade became one of the most significant markers of what we now know as Capitalism.

The cowrie signifies an abstract of the many names, dates and circumstances found within the archives during my exploration of time and histories.

Some remembrances are based in historical accounts, including mythologies.
Other stories are the forgotten, but perceived and many others belong to those silenced in life, remembered by us who imagine what happened in between the lines of tales documented.
I do not move away from these stories without offering honour.
These objects are for them.

Fetish sculpture [and a study of cowries] as mausoleums, museums, urns- new relics.

Fig. 1-5, Maaluseum Cowrie Study

Fig. 1-5, Cowrie Study

The cowrie

Fig. 1

Nearly impossible to make extinct

Comfort vessel.

Fig. 2

300+ shells for unnamed ancestors
& now my mother

IMG_2664.png

Return the crania.

Fig. 3

53+ shells for those whose skulls were stolen from their graves by the University of Pennsylvania and/or their cadaver peddlers.

Journal for dreams & plans.

Fig. 4

Tree & Delisha Africa were kidnapped by University of Pennsylvania & Princeton University

The first object.

Fig. 5

There are so many of you (12.5 million+)