Pieces of Africa

My Capstone project is a collection of boxes incorporating various themes from African literature and culture juxtaposed with illustrations and natural materials in a three dimensional manner. I have created nine boxes presenting the following themes: men, women, children of war, family and community, life and faith, death, love, hate, and the continent ofAfricaitself. Each box has various illustrations corresponding to its theme. I wanted these boxes to create a dialogue about what I believe the general public knows and does not know aboutAfrica. I read various African novels and recognized multiple themes that were discussed frequently throughout each novel. I chose nine themes that I felt encompassed African life and began to create illustrations for each theme. These boxes either have multiple layers of imagery, single images, or text in replace of an image. Each box is meant to create a depth for its theme. Viewing various images in a single box is intended to mimic multiple perspectives on the same theme. Conversely, some of the boxes only contain a quote inside. In these boxes, specifically on love and hate, I felt that words could convey these two broader themes much more effectively than an image could. I wanted to play with a balance between powerful imagery and text, with the intent to create a cohesive unity between the two. Each box incorporates the use of quotes from the texts that I have read, illustrations, and natural materials (dirt, polished stones, sand, dry grass and flowers, and broken glass). The colors I chose to paint each box with correspond to the various themes. The boxes have a plate of glass on one side, showing the objects inside similarly to the way a diorama would. The viewers can look into the boxes but can not touch any of the illustrations or objects inside. This glass plate between the interior of the box and the viewer creates a wall between the two. This is a representation of the way American culture tends to be removed from the issues inAfrica. Although the media covers these issues once and a while the general public pays no attention to them