Adinkra Hene | Original Raffia & Acrylic Canvas, 90 x 90cm

An original mixed media canvas, 90 x 90cm. The Adinkrahene symbol built in coiled raffia rope over layered acrylic in grey, oxide red and gold. Framed. Adinkrahene is the chief of the Adinkra symbols. In Akan tradition it is the one said to have shaped the design of all the others, and it stands for greatness, charisma and leadership. Its form is concentric circles, and that is exactly what has been made here: three rings of raffia rope coiled and laid onto the canvas, so the symbol sits in relief rather than being painted on. The ground behind it is worked in grey, oxide red, ochre and gold, scored and stamped with marks that read as writing without being any alphabet in particular. Two raffia triangles anchor opposite corners. The whole surface carries texture you can see from across a room and feel up close, which is the thing a print of it could never do. At 90 x 90cm square this is a single wall piece rather than one of a group. It wants space around it: above a sideboard, at the end of a hallway, in a stairwell, or opposite a door where you meet it as you walk in. Supplied framed in a natural wood frame, as photographed. One of one. There is no edition and no print run behind it, and once it sells there is not another. The second photograph shows the work on the easel in the studio where it was made, which gives a truer sense of the depth of the rope than a flat photograph can. Care: hang it out of direct sunlight, which fades acrylic and yellows natural raffia over time. Dust the rope with a dry soft brush rather than a cloth, which snags on the fibres. Never use water or cleaning spray on the surface.