Máscara Umbundo

Artist Statement

Paint scraping on canvas. A reinterpretation of the masks of the Umbundu people of Angola's central highlands. Ref. NUA-AC-03 (Catálogo Geral Nu-Art Angola Collection, 3.ª edição).

Follow a hand in Beni Memboka’s painting and it leads toward an arm, a body, another color. Feet appear farther down, angled among the same interlocking shapes. The canvas makes the familiar human form feel newly surprising. An artist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Memboka works with acrylic on canvas. In the piece shared with NUA-ARTE, bright planes of orange, blue, yellow and green are held by dark outlines. Limbs cross and curve through them, while small patterned details interrupt the larger shapes. The pleasure of looking comes from piecing the image together, then allowing it to open again. A viewer may see an embrace, a dance or simply bodies in close relation. Each return to the canvas offers another route through its color and movement.