Birth of Anacaona

This piece is highly personal. It represents Anacaona the heroine of Quisqueya (the Taino name for present day Haiti and Dominican Republic). She captured the artist's imagination as a child. There is a sculpture of her on the base of a Columbus monument in Santo Domingo. She was a poetess and a rebel. Quisqueya was ruled by five Taino tribes. Her father, brother and her husband Caonabo were chieftains. He was a warrior and fought the Spaniards, but was captured and killed. Anacaona took over for him, and also fell to the Spaniards but left her mark. The artist borrowed Boticelli's composition of " Birth of Venus" and replaced it with "Birth of Anacaona". She wanted to represent her as curvy, strong, and beautiful. In the water is black mermaid and cherub, creating an image populated by people of color. The sky and water are turbulent to represent what she lived through. There is a song by Tona la Negra, "Angelitos Negros," which informed this painting.

This print is from an original acrylic painting. It ships flat.