This piece is characterized by mainly three distinct environments which are represented by the only colours painted on the canvas marigold, turquoise and a bright pink.
Initially, all I had was an idea of what I wanted the painting to look like once it was finished alongside a feeling that inspired it. As I was painting this, I only had a feeling of what I wanted the background to look like and a nostalgic memory that the yellow boubou would unlock. I believe the turquoise couch came somewhere along the way or before, I can't really remember.
I went ahead and began to paint, at the time merely led by a feeling, an emotion I wanted to portray and I believe an image I had in my mind that I wanted to bring to life. After I put the brush down, the paint dried and I stepped away for a little while, the painting had become so much more than that or maybe it was because this time I had finally gotten an opportunity to see it for what it had been all along.
The pink was always meant to be very—pink, bright – dare I say girly. The shade of pink that would be on the color palette you’d use to speak if you could only describe a classic early 2000’s chick flick using colours. The kind of pink that feels like the iconic pink motorazor. First, I experienced this pink in my mind as a mood, it lingered, then it became a fragrance that I wanted to fill the atmosphere on the canvas. I later realized what this was.
The lady in the boubou, the marigold being a classic afrocentric colour. Rich and vibrant, yet it has many shades, each representing a story. I used different colours and textures which individually told their own story, eventually adding to the overarching plot in their own unique way. This theme can be seen across the African continent.
Many African cultures are characterized by different stories and elements that overlap, interlock and intersect, forming what often becomes a concept within the culture. I’ll give an example, the African wax print, popularly known as Ankara or Chitenge in some regions. Individual components, each with a story to tell where they are coming from, harmonizing to form art.
In this painting, we see the African woman existing in her full form unapologetically, without having to alter herself or her appearance in order to make herself more palatable to the world she may be surrounded by. She doesn’t have to come packaged in the way that modern day society dictates that she should.
This is what the boubou characterizes, the freedom that flows from authenticity. In certain settings it can be seen as a bit ‘much’ depending on the material used (depicted in the painting can be jacquard or organza, whichever you and your imagination prefer) but not for this African woman. She doesn’t mind being perceived as too much or even too little. She is finally at peace with being herself and existing as who she actually is deep down. She is no longer performing at the expense of herself.
The pink background represents an aura, a vibe, a frame of mind, an experience. A way in which the world can be experienced. A world characterized by the feeling you get when you watch movies like The Princess Diaries or Legally Blonde. That feeling you get as a little girl experiencing London Tipton's room for the first time as a little girl. Seeing Sharpay Evans and her pink golf cart in High School Musical 2 or seeing her pink snake skin skirt that matches her boots in High School Musical 3, being surrounded by the feeling of the hot pink marshmallow cloud feeling created in her locker.
It's the feeling you get being transported into the scene , when the cheetah girls are in Galleria’s room in New York City , submitting their audition for the Barcelona music festival wearing, their matching pyjamas. In that moment you’re also at the slumber party, experiencing that – girlhood.
Growing up I usually experienced this feeling watching scenes like this, or at least those times were when I realized it was an actual feeling. Later on I realized I experienced this feeling on many occasions, except my experiences looked different from the scenes I watched. The feeling however, never really changed.
This feeling can be described as a simple, airy, delicate, playful and almost childlike femininity. However it’s not limited to these words, you’re allowed to come up with your definitions for it or even add to these. While it may look different across different people, the way it feels I believe, is universal. The experiences accompanied by it can be unique to you. They don’t have to look one way, the way that I described in the previous paragraph, these experiences can have many expressions, sometimes (and I hate to burst your bubble) pink doesn’t always have to be present. This feeling can be experienced in ways that are void of the stereotypical depiction of femininity.
Many times the African woman is portrayed in harsh, heavy and often complex settings. Settings that can feel sometimes ... exhausting. This piece challenges that notion, depicting an African woman simply existing in this space and also not having to take on a form of femininity that is foreign to her, not having to throw out or hide a part of who she is in order to be able to exist is feminine to her and though it may look different she experiences the same feeling.
It’s rare that these two realities are portrayed at once but in this piece I let them sit together comfortably. Turquoise in idea not, indeed , being the ‘therapy couch’ where these two phenomenons begin to coexist and eventually they symphonize into the modern day African woman.
By saying this , I am by no means trying to minimize , undermine or downplay the challenges, issues and complexities faced by the African or black woman , which may sometimes influence these settings. Neither am I trying to talk down on this portrayal of the African woman, I am simply attempting to offer another glance. A possibility that looks like this, for the one who may need a little bit of a break.
While this piece only consists of three or four main components, depending on how you count. It is marked by each component, its representation, the meaning behind it and how all of these meet together at the intersection, which is the overarching story.
