"Legends of The Orisha," 2022, Annotated

As one of her defining artworks so far, The Legends of the Orisha is a project worth deeper exploration. In the following post discover more about the details, symbolism and themes explored in the piece. This is the largest project I have worked on. The piece explores the Orisha mythology of the Yoruba people. In the painting, I attempt to capture the 7 main deities of the mythology. The goal was to portray the grandeur and elegance of these African gods as never before. After careful research regarding each gods role, symbolism and appearce I positioned and portrayed in certain areas and groupings. The color of clothing and expression aim to express each god's individual personality. I wished to convey the wonder I had when reading the tales about them thus the choice for such a large scale piece. In addition, I was inspired stylistically by the masterpieces of Gustav Klimt and Sandro Botticelli. I plan to paint individual portraits of these gods and expand on them as the stories behind them are incredibly rich and difficult to capture in just one piece.