20th C. OGONI LAND, Ogoni Wood Mask, Articulated Jaw

Ogoniland, Ogoni peoples, ca. early 20th century CE. This is a very nice example of a cane wood Ogoni dance mask, featuring a face with thin slits for eyes, tiny puckered lips, and pronounced ears and nose. The hair is tightly braided and the face is painted to show scarification and tattoos on cheeks, near ears, and forehead. The Ogoni encountered European colonists quite late - 1901 was the year they encountered the British - so their artistic tradition retains many pre-colonial elements compared to other cultural groups. The white face paint marks this mask as an "elu", a spirit. Size: 6.55" W x 7.8" H (16.6 cm x 19.8 cm)

Provenance: Ex- Nick Poolos collection, Adeon Gallery, Chicago, IL acquired before 1975


 
 
 

ZYGOTE

I drew inspiration from the art and cultures of my African ancestors to paint the series ZYGOTE for my Spring /Summer 2022 collection for the BOTH + NEITHER line. This is my first commercial collection and it is titled META_SAPIENS.

“ Zygote **(from Greek ζυγωτός zygōtos "joined" or "yoked", from ζυγοῦν zygoun "to join" or "to yoke") is a eukaryotic cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information necessary to form a new individual organism.

In multicellular organisms, the zygote is the earliest developmental stage. In humans and most other anisogamous organisms, a zygote is formed when an egg cell is fertilized by a sperm cell. In single-celled organisms, the zygote can divide asexually by mitosis to produce identical offspring.

A Zygote represents the beginnings of life in numerous organisms i.e homo-sapiens, animals, plants, cell amoebas and other species.

The metamophosis of a Zygote is mapped by DNA, from modus reproductionis through Pubertas to Aetas adulta and finally Senescentia.

Meta_Sapiens evolve from Zygotes. Not all Zygotes meta - evolve. A Meta_Sapien is Both and is Neither.

The “Elu” spirit in Ogoniland is the artistic representation of a Zygote.

Bibliography:

**"English etymology of zygote". etymonline.com. Archived from the original on 2017-03-30.