EVOLUTION TO DINQNESH | theartofjulee

The Mission:

Eve,

U’ve been sitting much too long!

Used and abused

Oppressed and enslaved

Murdered and mistreated

But U forgot--U are the mother!

Yr children are really just acting out!!!

Let them see the true power of a Mama’s love!

We can beat that snake. Just let the Art do its part.

My Eve

This Artwork was bursting out of my womb on my 50th birthday. It is an "A'free'can A-mere-I-can" perspective from the vantage point of “Womanism.”

Begun as my senior thesis, “An Ebony Woman Poem,” it was a collection of interviews and photos from my time in Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Senegal in 1976-7 launched as a multi-media slide show.

In 2005 it took a new course with the enlightened knowledge that “Eve” was indeed a Black Woman. In 2007 young Moata Hunter reminded me of the leadership of our children and challenged me to properly rename Eve into Dinqnesh.

The images have many layers of meaning. As the appreciation of all the Dinqnesh represents the work continues to urge new conversations, actions, and uplifting solutions for the challenges faced by women and especially A’free’can Amerikan women.

The True Story of Eve

(or…It’s as easy as A-B-C)Black Woman,

Black Woman, Black Woman,

Where are you today?

In Yr march towards tomorrow

Have Yr steps taken U backwards?

Well they should!

Back into Yr Mama’s legacy\

Her hard work

And her wisdom

Her dedication to U

Trying to make U/Trying to take U

To the places she’d never been.

Trying to make U a Sheroe for our Nation.

She lead U to freedom

Made sure U read

Battled 4 the best for U

And labored 4 Yr glory

But enough of the elders & the ancestors

What of U my Sistahs?

Where R U 2 day?

Caught up in a web?

In a rat-race hell?

Struggling to B free?

Struggling to B She--She-- She--

Sheroes for Yr children

Sheroes to our Men

Sheroes to our God

She-rose for ourselves

But that divine perfection

Tempered with that permanent pain

Her story

Her Story

Herstory--not his

Eve*, my dear

Mother of all mothers,

Stand up

And

Crowned.

*EVE is truly DINQNESH, the mother of all mothers found in the excavations of Ethiopia.

The Mother of all Mothers

I reached out and grabbed my sistahs and we agreed to reclaim our crown--U know, the one they didn’t want to give us but finally admitted was ours--Mother of the Globe--who knows, perhaps the Universe…

It took a journey. First we had to pour libation and then we went through some “Hair-Raising Times.” We had to free ourselves so we painted our feet and threw our tears into the river until the salt created the seas.

Fortified and magnified we stepped back into that Garden and got EVEn’ .

We found ourselves and our crown

put it on: Proud A’free’can A’mer’I’can Woah-men--the Daughters of Dinqnesh !

Yet, this reminds us of the work we still must do. We’ve got children to raise, Adam to right , and that damn apple needs cookin’! We’ve got a snake to charm and a “better book” to write.

Mother Nature created us--the Goddess herself. We, the Daughters of Dinqnesh--the Mothers of all Mothers! (AKA Eve)-must roll up our sleeves, and get to work!

The Crowning of Eve

I am on a special mission now.

In 2005 the Spirit swooped in and threw me on the path of Eve.

On my birthday I was able to begin the series with a glorious residency--

I became a “Fellow” at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

Now, I am working to complete the paintings and simultaneously create the Garden of Eve'n. The Garden of Eve’n is the first stage of the ultimate “EVE” experience. In “The Garden of Eve’n” viewers will be able to leave/leaf their dreams and be-liEVE-ing on the trees as they enter. Inside the garden they can relax on an elongated soft sculpture graffiti snake

slithering with the temptations that make Amerikkka so potent.

Then, they get to redefine sin on the ultimate apple,

throw their sorrows into a river of tears

and dance away the pain

in a collaborative and therapeutic performance piece.

The originals to the series are only the eye candy.

They each reflect our individual vs. group dynamics

as they work in modules to become one holistic piece.

Because the works are each very special it would be great if they could be collected by individual patrons of meaningful significance.