"Chiwara/Bambara", 1985, various dimensions, various found objects; metal can lid, various wooden and veneer furniture parts, paper from advertising posters, original lost in Brooklyn.
"Tanz des Lebens", 1988, 50" X 66", acrylics, oils, latex, owned by Cynthia Bell, Brooklyn
"A Classical Thema", 1985-87, 72" X 40.625", acrylics, oils latex and enamel and various objects to include; wooden bowl, tar paper, tin cans, wood, wart hog tusks (which were mounted on a wooden panel above the painting - not in picture) and paper, owned by Paul Spencer, NY
The detail shows the small painting ("After Léger")
*note the inclusion of objects from the streets, paper from posters on the subway and cardboard as texture.
"A Hidden Portrait of Nancy Cunard" 1987, 23.5" X 23.5", acrylics, oils and enamel, collection of the artist
It was later cut out of the door and folded to be displayed as shown above,
the door was abandoned in my Staten Island apartment after a fire in 1987.
"Door #1-Bambara", 1985, dimensions unknown, acrylics, oils, cardboard, tarpaper, African sculptures, tin cans, paper, copper wire, on a wooden door found on the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant, destroyed by fire in Staten Island in 1987.This is one of the only shots I have of this sculpture/painting
"Door#1-Bambara", 1985, detail
"Fire-spitters", 1988, 24" X 36", acrylics, owned by Gene P King, Pittsburgh, PA (now deceased)
"Fragments", 1989, 9.5 X 12.5", linocut on rice paper, A/P and several editions in the collection of the artist
"Josephine Baker", 1987, 29.5" X 52", acrylics, oils and enamel, owned by Deirdre Kennedy, NJ
"Patterns", 1988, 13.5" X 17", linocut on rice paper, A/P and several editions in the collection of the artist
"Senufo Canon", 1989, 36" X 60", acrylics on raw canvas, painted over
"Shapes", 1988, 13.5" X 17", linocut on rice paper, A/P and several editions in the collection of the artist
"Ariadne auf Naxos"
Zerbinetta gives in to Harlekin’s comic protestations of love.
I was inspired by Kathleen Battle's portrayal of Zerbinetta, the leader of a commedia dell’arte troupe that finds itself stranded on Ariadne’s island.
Living in mostly African American neighborhoods in Brooklyn and in Staten Island for the first five - six years of my time in NYC. East New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and New Brighton and Stapleton in Staten Island
to name a few. I sought inspiration in the people and the neighborhoods I lived in, through its history, its culture
and the extension of that. Opera and the inclusion of African American stars such as Ms Battle, pop culture, movies, African sculpture purchased on the streets, newspaper images, vintage photography, Black History and classical themes all played an important role in this period of painting, sculpture and printmaking.
