Recognition in Words (2022) is a collection made of wooden headpieces.  The pieces are inspired by traditional Surinamese wood craft. Growing up in the Netherlands, I did not have a lot of references to Surinamese land. But I did have a lot of visual references to Surinam by the many artistic woodworks in our home, such as wooden clocks shaped like the country of Surinam, wooden art pieces created from smooth thick wood in different shades of brown, and little wooden figures portraying furniture, huts, and houses. The pieces were always there in my childhood home to be admired, and looking at them brought Surinam closer to me. 

 

When I started experimenting with different materials, I found a way to work with wood myself: by designing digital shapes and forms, and using laser flex patterns for engravings or to make the wood bendable. The designs I would make digitally were translated into wood by a laser-cut machine. The shapes and meanings behind the pieces are references from topics that were influencing my sense of identity – this diasporic longing towards a culture which I am connected to but sometimes also feel quite far away, living in the Netherlands. It created a feeling of duality, something that W.E.B Du Bois describes as a ‘Double consciousness’.

 

I immersed myself in Black literature by Maya Angelou and bell hooks, which made me realize that my experience was a shared one. I used their literature to inspire the shapes of the wood designs, becoming symbolic of the writer’s messages. ‘I Rise, by Maya Angelou’, became a tall headpiece, symbolizing the extension of rising. Sisterhood, by bell hooks became a circular shape, symbolizing women's circles, and ‘Double Consciousness’ by W.E.B. Du Bois became two shapes facing each other, one being bigger than the other – referencing uneven duality. The last piece I called ‘Taking up Space’, which became a huge piece in width, making the wearer unable to enter doors. I wanted the piece to portray what I felt I was doing by creating this collection, but also what I want to encourage other bi-cultural people: to take up space with your presence, your opinion, and your voice.

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This photoshoot was in collaboration with photographer Goldiie.

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Showcased at:

Keti Koti exhibition OSCAM, at Museumplein Amsterdam 2023

Retrospective exhibition 2022-2023, OSCAM Amsterdam

Release event Recognition in Words, OSCAM Amsterdam 2022

Swazoom Live performance, at Bijlmer Partheater May 2022

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