Go Ho Me, 2016 Oil on canvas Collection Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Gift of Dr. John Hunter and Dr. Harold Kooden, 2024.2.17 A – C
My family and, indeed, no family of African descent in the United States, can escape the legacy of colonialism and enslavement. These legacies not only permeate our culture but have determined our histories.
An idea for a painting rattled around in my brain for a long time. I had an idea of what it should be but couldn’t find the right imagery for it. Then, my husband, Harold Kooden, and I visited Peru and witnessed an astonishing all-day parade of costumed villagers dancing along the main street of Cusco. One set of costumes intrigued me and I adopted them for the central motif for the painting that became We Dance to the Music of History. But this painting is not about locals celebrating but is instead about their invading conquerors. The brilliant native costumes became a disguise for the intruders in a world that did not belong to them but which they appropriated for themselves. The locals, represented by the pair of seated figures on the right, are oblivious to the invaders, at least for the moment. But they, too, will dance to the music of history and become subjugated to hostile foreigners. The costumed figure in black face on the right is also an invader who disguises himself in a way that he believes makes him look like a local.
Go Ho Me, 2016
In Go Ho Me the indigenous folk welcome would be colonizers by showing their collective resistance and beheading those who insist on invading their land.
