The Arc of History Has a Long White Shadow (2025) – 28” x 30”, Oil on canvas, facsimile menorah, Gouro initiation figure, yellow Power Ranger figurine, wood, plastic, enamel, fixtures, measurements variable.
Using the idea of an “end of history”, from Francis Fukuyama & Friedrich Hegel’s theories, proved to be fallacies, to Paul Klee’s Angelus Novus, with which Walter Benjamin connected to his “Angel of History” theory, I’m thinking about what all that means to me, my upbringing, and our current moment. All those names out the way, The Arc of History Has a Long White Shadow is a self-portrait alongside four other figures, two painted & two presented appropriated figurines. Two are female presenting, two are male. Above the canvas is a Menorah, a Jewish seven spaced candle holder. This is an object from my own cultural & ethnic background, while the other sculptural elements are not. None the less, I grew up aware, engaged and exposed to them. The figure on the left is a representation of a Gouro (cultural group of what is today Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa) male (manhood coming of age ceremony) initiate dancer. This object is not itself one used of consequence in Gouro practices, but likely a ‘curio’ merely representing a traditional aspect of life, to be made and sold by artisans likely to tourists. The figure on the right is a contemporary action figurine, albeit ‘collectible’ rather than ‘toy’, produced by the Hasbro corporation, representing the yellow Power Ranger from the mid 90s iteration of the Power Rangers television series (originally Japanese but adapted for Western audiences, by Haim Saban, who was born in Egypt to a Jewish family, just like my grandmother). I grew up enthralled by Power Rangers and harbor a nostalgia for those days. The yellow rangers is specifically chosen over other colours as it was one of only two female characters, and was portrayed by the late Asian-American actress Thuy Trang.
In the self-portrait, I am draped by a shawl of fabric, and the whites of my eyes are inverted with the pupils. My arms are in a crossed gesture. The background is a domestic space, perhaps a kitchen, with visible appliances, pots and pans. I wanted the space to be one familiar, one that can transcend moments time, and that can people can relate to and even perhaps situate themselves in. The fiddler harks back to the culture of my forefathers and foremothers, the Yiddish Klezmer music and other cultural instruments they were able to carry with them when escaping persecution & genocide. The figure on the right is perhaps more ambiguous. I was inspired by visual representations of the Queen of Sheba, a biblical figure in East Africa, but I wanted to leave it open.