Ancestors Are Watching, 2021 (11×14 print)

“Ancestors Are Watching”
Materials: burned Bamiléké Ndop cloth, red sewing thread, ink, acrylic paint.
tu as appris ça oú? translation: where did you learn that (these words are repeated throughout the piece)
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A meditation on queer African history, the legacy of colonization, personal and collective memory, shame and love. The central thesis in my work is the question “whose imagination are you living in?”, a powerful inquiry inviting us to interrogate white supremacist, cisheteronormative and capitalist norms that shape our societies and erode our bodies and minds. I first heard it on a podcast (Bitchface) and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. This first painting of the series, Ancestors are Watching, looks to the past and reflects on erased queer African histories while the second, Untitled 2, looks forward to abundant, affirming futures.