'If You Really Saw Us'
Coloured Pencil on paper
2017
53" x 47"
An extended study of a photograph in coloured pencil centres on the hands of my mother, my older sister and me.
Hands feature heavily in my drawing and there is so much to be seen in the hands of black women. The dark lines that run across my palms make a melanin-rich network that tells of my every action and inaction. They are evidence of so much culture and life, from the way they are used gesturally, to how they are decorated; they are as telling as a face in the history of a person. As a portrait, this drawing for me became a long process of looking and truly seeing my past, and my future, first in my sister and then my mother.
On this scale, the hands become a space we could inhabit, and we are drawn into looking at the many details that are often taken for granted: The surprising layers of colour that make up our brown pigment, the variations in tone and texture, the influences from our father and the beautiful marks earned in work, suffering, love and play.
Untitled (Orange and Blue)
Oil Pastel on paper
2017
420 x 594
Lining
Watercolour pencil and pastel on paper
2015
420 x 594
Tactile
Watercolour pencil on paper
2013
594 x 841
