MOTHER Lobi - Calabash Collection

This mixed‑media wall relief depicts a stylized Black woman of the Lobi tribe, shown in a moment of graceful balance and maternal care. She carries a calabash atop her head while supporting a large woven basket at her hip, where an infant rests swaddled in turquoise cloth. The vessel closely echoes traditional Lobi baby‑carrying baskets—deep, reed‑woven forms trimmed with leather and shaped to protect infants from sun, wind, and rain. These baskets historically allowed mothers to keep their hands free for farming, gathering, and market work, embodying the community’s intertwined rhythms of labor and caregiving.

The figure is rendered with deep black skin, finely accented facial features, and a patterned, pale headwrap. Her clothing—a vivid green top paired with a golden‑yellow skirt—adds a bright, rhythmic contrast to the earthy tones of the basket and background. The calabash she balances references the Lobi practice of harvesting and hollowing bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) to create lightweight bowls, ladles, water vessels, and storage containers essential to daily life.

High‑relief sculptural elements rise from a neutral, textured backdrop, giving the piece a tactile presence. The surfaces of the clothing, basket, and background display a blend of clay and acrylic paint, emphasizing the handmade quality of the work. Rooted in Afrocentric, African, Haitian, and broader folk‑art traditions, the sculpture celebrates themes of motherhood, endurance, and communal resilience—honoring the ways women sustain both family and culture through everyday acts of strength.

12x36x2”

Bas-relief Acrylic clay on canvas