Anasyrma, Pastel and oil on Canvas, 70" x 29" x 2" Anasyrma references an ancient ritual where women lifted their skirts to assert authority or ward off evil, seen in cultures like Greece and Egypt. The painting connects this to the Liberian women’s peace movement during the Second Liberian Civil War (1999–2003)
I paint figuratively,using nudity as a conceptual tool to explore themes of power, resistance & social dynamics,rather than as a genre.In Sansculotte Protest,nudity reflects the labor struggles of strippers at a Bronx nightclub,drawing on the historical term “sansculotte” to connect modern labor disputes with revolutionary acts.Anasyrma uses the ancient act of women lifting their skirts—symbolizing authority & defiance—as a metaphor for the Liberian women’s peace movement during the Second Liberian Civil War.Their protests,invoking nudity to shame male leaders, resulted in the 2003 Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Similarly,in Raya & Sakina,the nude figures memorialize the victims of 2 Egyptian sisters who murdered 17 women in 1921, highlighting their overlooked stories & the lasting impact of these crimes.Through these works,I use the body as a site of both vulnerability & power, examining how nudity can be a tool for protest, memory, & agency across diverse cultural contexts.