It is of course no coincidence that the first completed painting I have this new year is this abstract entitled ‘On Reflection‘. The painting is based on a mythical bird that is part of my Ghanaian culture. The bird ‘Sankofa‘ has its roots in one of the ‘Adinkra‘ symbols of Ghana.
So of course I have to explain a little bit; Adinkra are visual symbols that represent concepts. Wikipedia defines concepts as ideas formed from inference, or aphorisms (original thoughts that are spoken in most cases or written). This is perhaps the closest I can come to describing the very illustrative visual language of the Akan people of Ghana without writing an entire discourse on the subject because that isn’t really the intention of this blog. Perhaps we can save that for another day.
All I need to say right now is that the symbols have a decorative function but also encapsulate messages that evoke traditional wisdom often linked with proverbs. The title of my current book ‘Dancing With Crocodiles‘ which non-coincidentally is also the title of my blog page touches ever so slightly on the subject.
Sankofa when translated literally means ‘to go back and get it, retrieve it or to pick it up…’ This is wholly symbolic of reflecting on what was good in the past and bringing it into the present in order to make (positive) progress.
So my concious thoughts as I entered 2012, my 52nd year, were a reflection on the years past and the lessons learned and how much of it would positively influence the next 12 months of my life (God willing).
The colours are symbolic too: the gold leaf represents royalty, wealth, high status, glory and spiritual purity. All of these I strive for in a very spiritual way. Maroon is a colour of mother earth associated with healing. Pink and purple represent the female essence of life whilst the red even though energetic and vibrant is often associated with political and spiritual moods, bloodshed and sacrifice. Last but not least, yellow symbolises, preciousness, rolyalty, wealth and fertility.
All of these bode very well for a positive, productive and prosperous 2012.
I love sankofa bc it reminds me to go back to the basics of God’s word. Pink&purple are 2 of my fav colours so it’s exciting to know it means life/ fertility- read Isa.54:1. Red..bloodshed..sacrifice Wow , the ultimate sacrifice Jesus. This is so rich! BTW Where’s the book, I want to read it…and where is my potrait? Didn’t think you’d get heckled here did you?
Ha Ha – see why it became a secret blog (ie secret from you?). only joking. Heckle away. Your portrait is there… in the pipeline, working on a couple of competition submissions then you are next.
I am so inspired by the colours in the painting and the actual meaning they portray especially linked to the basics of God’s word and spiritual purity. I never cease to amaze at our creator and the level of creativity; fancy creating a horse and then painting black and white stripes on it. And then when he got to the chameleon He kind of said… ah you choose whatever colour you want to be…
Lovely picture and fabulous colours! I would be interested to hear more colour pyschology stuff! Very interesting xx