Tribal Messages

I have decided to call my piece ,in the form of an artist’s book, Tribal Messages. It will juxtapose contemporary signs and symbols with traditional Adinkra symbols from Ghana.

I have been working on the cover which I wanted to look like an ancient relic, and with a bit of paint and use of the hot air gun a piece of chamois leather now gets somewhere near to the effect I wanted. I had the Deka paint as a free gift from Fibercrafts, I think not many people wanted muddy brown, but it came in very useful .It looks like Elephant skin to me.

The inside of the cover brings together various Adinkra and contemporary saying. I sprayed material with 505 spray and put it onto card which then went through the computer fairly easily. I used scrim and pieces of silk carrier rods dyed with tea to get the ethnic look I wanted.