Generational Healing
Generational Healing is a conversation between the past and the present – a visual meditation on how memory, ancestry and love continue to move through our lives long after specific events have passed. The work explores how healing is rarely an individual act; it is something held, shared and passed between generations.
The Elder: Memory, Migration & Ori
The elder figure carries ancestral markings — carved networks of memory, migration and the knowledge of those who walked before us. The Ila-inspired scars across his eyes speak of sacrifice and the strength to see beyond trauma; they honour the histories that are often carried in silence, on the body, rather than in words.
He is crowned with a glowing halo symbolising ori — the inner head, destiny and the spiritual protection that guides us through life. Here, ori also becomes a symbol of sanctuary, a reminder that guidance, clarity and divine care can be passed from one generation to the next.
The Present Generation Held in Blue
Held in his arms, the younger figure rests with trust. Wrapped in blue, they represent the present generation — still learning, still healing, still forming their identity. Their softer markings show a story still being written, shaped by the wisdom they inherit and the world they are growing into.
Red as Sanctuary, Lineage & First Belonging
The red background becomes a maternal sanctuary — the same symbolism used throughout my work. Red represents protection, the first site of belonging, and the rebirth of love. It also gestures to the universal truth that every human is born through blood — a reminder that love, connection and care begin before language or memory.
This red is not only struggle; it is continuity, lineage and the emotional inheritance that binds us. It holds the weight of displacement, colourism and generational wounds within Black communities, while still making space for tenderness, protection and renewal.
From Wounds to Guidance
Video: Talking Through “Generational Healing”
In this short video I speak about the story, symbols and colours behind Generational Healing, and how this piece connects to memory, migration and intergenerational
Though rooted in specific histories and experiences, the painting ultimately speaks to something universal: we break, we heal and we grow when we allow the past to guide us instead of wound us. The elder does not erase the younger figure’s pain; he holds it, witnesses it and offers a different way forward.
Generational Healing asks us to soften division, rebuild unity and let healing ripple outward — from ourselves, to our families, to our communities — creating a future rooted in peace, sanctuary and love.
Artist Reflection: Standing Beyond the Lines
“Founding Father: Stand for Us All” reimagines what it means to show up, speak out, and carry a community forward. The central figure stands not as one man, but as a movement — a protector shaped by ancestral strength and collective resilience.
The red threads binding the people together represent both protest and burden: the shared struggle, the unseen chains placed on Black lives, and the systems designed to hold us in place. Yet these same lines also point toward liberation, revealing how freedom grows when one person dares to see beyond the limits.
Every figure, pattern and mark echoes a truth: freedom isn’t given — it’s lifted, together.
This painting is inspired by the film Son of the South, which tells the story of Bob Zellner, a white ally who stepped into the fight for Black civil rights. The towering central figure symbolises strength and leadership. The red cloth surrounding the smaller figures shows both entrapment and connection — some caught within its folds, others reaching out to help.
It reflects how people can be held back, yet still rise by lifting each other.
This work honours those who challenged the norms and carried justice forward for generations to come — a reminder that unity, courage and collective love remain our most powerful tools for change.
The child represents what remains possible — a new story, a new direction, a new breath after years of holding everything in.
When I painted their hands touching, I felt something soften in me. A reminder that healing does not start with breaking the past, but with understanding it. Honouring it. Listening to what it tried to protect.
This piece is my thank you to the generation that survived, my promise to the generation that is growing, and my call to the generation that is still learning how to heal.
Every stroke is a memory. Every colour is an inheritance. Every line is a truth. This painting is not just about them — it is about us.
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