This tender childhood memory, captured and framed on a beveled canvas, depicts a small child in the arms of his father. The child is bright and illuminated, while the father’s face is mostly obscured; drifting in and out of vision in the same way that he drifts in and out of the boy’s life. This fragmentation of the paternal role anticipates the impact that the father’s presence, or lack thereof, will have on the boy’s sense of self as he grows into adulthood. The tattooed outline of the African continent on the man’s chest paired with the cowrie beads that adorn him, respond to the father’s own fractured lineage and the toll it may have taken on his own sense of self.

You washed me and I was your son

We are what We need (Young Trinity)

To you, my reborn

The image of grandmother and grandson reflects upon the bittersweet homecomings experienced by Black immigrant families. A hesitant celebration in being returned to your home and family, under the shadow and trauma of the abduction of incarceration; as alluded to in a hand drawn letter on the wall proclaiming "I Miss You". The existential farewell that hangs over a hospital bed. The longing for familiar earth, to be returned to the ground from which you came, the Democratic Republic of Congo producing blood lines like it produces the minerals of coltan and malachite. A collection of scattered, exploited, enduring African exports.

Add

Kikesa Kimbwala DeRobles

Opportunities

For Artists

ArtConnect

Support