We Are One

40×30 oil on canvas created in 2026

This piece communicates duality, ancestry, cultural connection, and the blending of African and Indigenous identities. Because the portrait is divided down the center, I would make that idea of interconnected histories central to your statement.

This work was inspired by the interconnected histories of African and Indigenous peoples and the complexity of carrying more than one cultural heritage within a single identity. I wanted to create a figure who visually represents two ancestral traditions while remaining one complete person.

Viewers are initially drawn to the eyes and the symmetry of the portrait, and then begin exploring the symbols surrounding the figure. I want the work to encourage questions about identity, ancestry, belonging, and cultural memory.

The strong unwavering gaze the embodiment of multiple histories, standing confidently as one. explore the idea that heritage can be layered, complicated, inherited, same convictions and ultimately unified as one person.