Orphaned by slavery - a monument in red Print

There is a statue in Lisbon, raised only five years ago. When it was erected, it was painted blood red in the night. Then it was scrubbed, but some red is left in the crevices. On the surface, three boys are protected by a disproportionately large priest. I saw the statue in April 2022 guided by Naky Gaglo, who has done research into the history of slavery, mining what few sources there are. The signs from history, the monuments are all around us, at the same time, the slaves lives are not documented, a lot needs to be inferred. Like in this statue - the boys would not have been orphans in the first place unless their parents had been kidnapped and enslaved. They boys were tutored into lives of subservience. This was the inspiration for this painting. I saw the residue of the red paint in the statue, not completely possible to remove. About the painting: The underpainting is in red and yellow. The foundation of the statue is of dirt gold - because this was a lucrative trade. The halo of the priest is black, and I did not depict the cross in his hand, because the heart of religion is not oppression - it is when religion is used as a tool for oppression and greed that things go black. I painted bricks in one of the background layers, because we all know where those well-meaning stones lead. Something curious happened when I depicted faces of the boys. No matter how many brush strokes I put down - they refused to look grateful, refused the childlike roundness to the faces. I put down my brush and accepted their expressions. Instead, I ripped another painting apart, and glued it around them. The vistas denied to them, the worlds never seen. The boys do not have any names on the plaque of the statue, only the priest does. I fashioned another plaque. Paint it red. Decolonialize.

Print:Giclee on Fine Art Paper

Size:9 W x 12 H x 0.1 D in

Size with Frame:14.25 W x 17.25 H x 1.2 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.