Oil on canvas from 2008, 82 x 100 cm – 32.2 x 39.3 in. Sold
The work is dedicated to the first women deported to the French Louisiana in 1712. They came from different West African countries. They will later become the mothers of a new people in a new world: The Africans-Americans. When I painted this work, I realized more than ever the real ordeal of the deported populations, during transport and on their arrival. I am aware of the abrupt change of environment, morals and the cultural shock that these people have been able to experience arriving on French territory. They set foot for the first time on this uknown land which has itself been conquered. They will witness its independance a few years later. African-American remains for me a name of meaning and symbolism.