Musampizya

The name of this piece is borrowed from a shrub that grows in areas in which baTonga lived and live. It is a plant that served in various functions in the world view of baTonga as both a cleansing herb and a medicinal herb. I Imagine the spirit of this (digitally alchemised) ancestor, Namusampizya still roaming around the Gwembe Valley looking for (and finding) all the sweet smelling shrubs like epaltes alata to cleanse the soil and homes of her Mukowa (future kin.) The background is layered with a digitized image of musila (red ochre) on canvas, a piece that’s been hanging on my walls since I begun experimenting with making natural paints.