I painted Adinkra in 2013, and as I am preparing text for an upcoming show I am sharing these words. Sometimes time and distance from the work helps to crystalize a better understanding of its meaning.
Adinkra – Beliefs create reality. I painted Adinkra with a frustration. I was disturbed by the way so many of us are willing to compartmentalize each other based on opinions, and the battling out for said opinions. Adinkra began with found objects, newspaper clippings and drawings on cloth – of flora, fauna and microscopic views of patterns in nature.
The title is inspired by two different definitions of the word Adinkra. One is a West African symbol (Akan, Ghana and Gyamen, Cote D’Ivoire) that represents complex concepts in visual symbols. The other comes from the Physicist (Center of String and Particle Theory, University of Maryland) James Gates. Gates uses the term to describe the class of geometric symbols that represent a physical theory of the nature of reality. Both uses of the words carry the suggestion of hidden meanings, complex meanings that the construct itself encodes. The esoteric reality of all symbols, all language, and possibly all matter is revealed. And with that revelation, I question the motives and intentions of HOW they are used in daily life.
Matter, information, and the space in between seem to be involved in a constant flux between tension and balance. As with all of my paintings, the relationships between the elements is where the meaning lies, the context seems important but secondary. Finally, content is a whim, always changing, objects in what seems to be a subjective field of flux.