Davedi Village, Togo, 2020 Oil on canvas Collection Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Gift of Frank Stark, 2024.3.1

I’ve learned by genetic testing that my family descended from enslaved people from West Africa. This series of portraits are based on photographs I made during a visit to the West African countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin. The names of the individuals are unknown except for Ben, Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana, 2019, who was my husband’s and my driver during our car trip. The titles of the paintings identify the villages or towns and countries where these individuals lived. Togo Zangbeto, 2018, and Dassa Zuomé 1, Benin, 2020, represent people at festivals. The group portraits are of adults and children who wanted to be photographed: Tchare Village, Togo, 2019, and Davedi Village, Togo, 2020. The other paintings are individual portraits: a hotel servant, Abomey, Benin 2, 2019; a village woman, Boukombé 1, Benin, 2019; a potter, Sé Village, Benin, 2019; a tour guide, Tafi Atome, Ghana, 2019; and a hotelier, Dassa Zoumé 2, Benin, 2020.