Dancing Queen in Little Accra is the largest piece of work I’ve created so far — 7 feet by 5 feet. My inspiration is a pair of sneakers created by Nike. In the fall of 2022, as part of Nike’s fortieth anniversary of its Air Force One, the company spotlighted Little Accra, a Bronx community of Ghanaian immigrants, giving a special anniversary edition of Air Force 1’s the same name.
As a Ghanaian immigrant myself, I wanted to amplify the story behind these shoes and join the celebration. I designed a fabric collection for this artwork — the Little Accra Collection — my first fabric collection created for a single portrait, in colors reflecting Ghanaian cuisine, incorporating two Adinkra symbols: Sankofa (learn from the past to influence the future) and Nserewa (wealth, abundance, and well-being).
The final work depicts the hybridity of someone living in Little Accra — African heritage and everyday American life: a woman in an African dancing pose, African fashion styling, wearing the Little Accra shoes, with Ghanaian flag colors and American flag colors completing the story. The piece joins my Joy of Living Series.