When I painted “Faduma's Ritual”, I envisioned Faduma Ali, a Somalian
woman, standing on a minaret in a moment of deep reflection.
At the time of the painting I was writing a biography of
the Duke of the Abruzzi.
Faduma Ali had known the Duke all her life, first as a young girl who lived in the village the young prince had created.
Throughout the
years, the Duke’s arrivals in the village was a time of great celebration. The
girl might have trekked to the coast and stood there awaiting the arrival of the ship's commander.
Faduma, a woman of considerable
beauty, would later begin a romance with the Duke and eventually they would live as a couple until his death.
The painting reminds me of my own rituals spent longing for someone or something we don't have a word to express.
12” 31 cm
9” 24” cm
Acryic
Faduma's Ritual is a companion piece to Toil.
They had both been rescued from a box headed to a dump.
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