Because We Matter

Mesmerized! The series is titled "Purification," a word in the same strict vein as "perfect" that I have always tried to run away from. The context of Barthélémy TOGUO's series is matter-of-fact yet sublime against classification. https://www.barthelemytoguo.com/

When I was a child mother wanted to continue herself in me via painting, in my sister via poetry. There was a local famous painter mother wanted me to emulate, Mr. Constantin Gavenea. He told me (or did he tell mother who told me? Sometimes memory is such a bitch!) to splash water and then play with colors. P-L-A-Y! I did that. Even if mine were epigonic pieces, the fun I had then and later with M when he was younger is so organic now that time cannot wash that off.

Tonight I met an artist from Cameroon whose series "Purification" is infinitely gorgeous, but it's also socially and politically charged because in addition to the visual, words enter the scene and they remind us that the best way to protect ourselves is to know that we all count.

In this series, human figures are intertwined with words from the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights:https://www.un.org/en/udhrbook/pdf/udhr_booklet_en_web.pdf

We matter!