INDIGENOUS GUARDIANS

Oils on aluminium stretched canvas with handcrafted beadwork (Toho beads/ mother of pearl / ammonite / fossil coral / obsidian) - Size: 180cm x 120cm x 5cm

Indigenous Guardians is a monumental painting shaped by memory, reverence, and the enduring presence of Africa as it lives within me. Depicting two Rendille women, the piece honours the quiet strength and ancestral dignity of Indigenous cultures I encountered during my childhood. Their faces are sculpted through multiple layers of paint, emerging from the canvas with a subtle three-dimensional presence — an illusion created through my layered technique, allowing light and shadow to carve form out of colour.

Adorned with beadwork that I hand-crafted and applied directly onto the canvas, the figures carry not only visual richness but tangible texture, each bead a tiny echo of the artistry and traditions that inspired them. Behind them flows a wide African river, shimmering with the memory of heat and distance, while a small group of zebra descends the bank to drink — a scene drawn from the landscapes I once roamed as a child.

Painted on a grand scale, Indigenous Guardians stands as both a tribute and a remembrance: a celebration of the people, the wildlife, the vibrant artistry, and the powerful sense of belonging that shaped my earliest years. It is a portrait of guardianship in every sense — guardians of culture, guardians of land, and guardians of the stories that continue to live within us long after we have left.