world of Rivers — Gratitude Ancestors

Feed what feeds life is an ongoing series of commemorative ceramic plates that honor ancestors and the waters of their geographic origins. This practice relies on Ifa-Orisa spirituality, ancestor research, and low-fire ceramic surface decoration methods. My intention is to make beautiful and useful ceramic art works for exhibit and ritual celebrations with our ancestors, each other and our individual and collective stories.
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world of Rivers — Gratitude Africa (Plate number 17-3 in-progress)
Stoneware decorated with underglaze colors and pastels, clear overglaze, 11.75 inches diameter, © 2021
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Everyone has ancestors, everything needs water.

In late 2016 I began experimenting with media and methods for decorating low-fire ceramic plates intending to create a series for beauty and use in ancestor ritual.
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I wanted to pay homage to Africa as home of our first human ancestors, and to the ancestors and rivers of Yorubaland and West Africa, birthplace of Ifa-Orisa traditional religion. The plates are gifts of gratitude for allowing me 25 years of participation in the tradition; some are pictured here.
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As I continued experimenting with materials and ways to use maps, symbols, color and text as design elements, the surface decoration imageries of rivers, geographies, words of praise took on qualities of visual narrative. I have begun to think of the plates as a visual form of “oriki,” a Yoruba word meaning “to cite one’s origins.” Oriki are praise poetry and invocation: performed to informs an audience about the qualities and acts of a person’s life story, ancestral lineage, character and contributions to the community.
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My current focus is on developing multiples from some of the Gratitude Africa series designs. I am also creating a series for honoring my own blood ancestors and their rivers of origin in Europe and the United States, and looking for ways to present this work in public exhibitions and community ancestor ritual.
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world of Rivers — Gratitude Africa
Stoneware decorated with pastels and pastel wash, clear overglaze, 6 inches diameter, © 2016, 2021

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world of Rivers — Gratitude Africa (Plate number 2017-8)
Stoneware decorated with underglaze colors, pastels, clear overglaze, 11.75 inches diameter, © 2017, 2021
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world of Rivers — Gratitude Africa, Igba Iwa Bird Plate (Plate number 2017-7 in-progress)
Stoneware decorated with underglaze colors and pastels, clear overglaze, 11.75 inches diameter, © 2017, 2021
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