Medium – Acrylic on Canvas
Dimension – 70cm by 90cm
Year – 2023
The yellow, red, and black ‘agbada’ robes swirl as the masquerade twists and turns!
The stilt-walkers in the fringes.
The dripping paint re-enacts the bowed head with its red tassels getting set for another burst from the ground!
I introduce The Art of the Masquerade.
Reduced to relics of history because of present gain?
‘Merchants’ have friends in high places. Custodians of power and of religion. They do not understand the value of the art of the masquerade and feed the fears of the man on the street.
They gather together to belittle, ridicule, and reduce the ancient practices.
They closed their eyes to the beauty in diversity, value inequality, and the harmony that comes from inclusion.
My bottles of dripping paint continue to write the story. The contrasting colors working through each other enact the theatre in my mind. The music, costumes, dance, and drama are so vivid in me.
If only you can understand…