WEST AFRICA
West Africa is magical and frustrating and confusing and rewarding. I am in love with it. I have been returning to Africa for all of my adult life to do work with artists and to live for 6 months to a year at a time. I work at a bronze foundry in Burkina Faso. While working at the foundry, I have learned how to build a traditional bronze melting foundery, which I have built and use here in the US as well. For many pictures and my daily experiences while on that trip, please look at my blog-
THE FOUNDRY:
ABOVE:
This is the foundry that I work at in Burkina Faso. Isa (right) and Sada (left), are putting patina on some finished pieces. They are master craftsmen, and their entire family has been doing bronze for centuries.
This is the foundry that I work at in Burkina Faso. Isa (right) and Sada (left), are putting patina on some finished pieces. They are master craftsmen, and their entire family has been doing bronze for centuries.
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COLLABORATIONS WITH OTHER ARTISTS:
After meeting many artist in Ouagadougou, I realized how incredible these two men are, and how incredible it could be if we worked together. This is an ongoing project. We do collaborative projects like a game of exquisite corpse. I start them with a bronze figure, Abu adds a sculpture of wood and found objects, and Vivien paints them.