Label Text:
Through the years, Helen Evans Ramsaran has traveled extensively throughout Africa, captivated by the rich fusion of art and sociological traditions. In 1998, she spent the year in Ghana, where she produced a group of sculptures relating to traditional African and African-American vernacular architecture and its environs. Collectively titled Pathways to Home, each work in the series suggests a house, village, ancient walled city or walkway, or some other kind of architectural structure. Cliff Dwellers was inspired by the ancient sandstone villages cut into the 80-mile-long escarpment or cliff of the Bandiagara region of Mali. She first created out the sculpture out of wax while in Mali; the sculpture was later cast in bronze in 2001. Ultimately, Ramsaran is concerned with contemporary sociological issues involving homelessness and the eventual dissolution of the African-American family. This theme has directed Pathways to Home, as the artist was in search of examples that reveal the cohesive power of architecture and how architectural spaces work in conjunction with spiritual ideas to forge strong family bonds.
"My sculptures are not really romantic copies of African dwellings, but rather they symbolize traditional architectural elements that not only serve to enlighten the viewer about the cultures from which they are drawn, but suggest means of using space to effect certain kinds of behavior. My sculptures encourage the viewer to examine the spiritual and cultural ideas inherent in traditional African architecture. I use such shapes as forked trees which are primary elements in traditional West African architecture. These elements can refer to ancestors and forked beams are strategically located throughout the inner structure of the house. Another African element is the 'H' form or the 'house horns' which adorn the exterior doorways of many traditional, adobe houses of West Africa. The 'house horns' are a kind of petition for abundance."
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2002.80 |
