Batuque - Sold

Oil on Masonite

48 × 36

Batuque, or drumming, is a general term for various Afro-Brazilian practices including music, dance, combat and religion. It’s also significant as a symbol of resilience, a tool for social change. It’s not merely drumming - it's a summoning. A call & response, a mesmerizing rotation. Batuque drumming emerged as a form of creative defiance. The women who created these sounds refused to be silenced by colonial authorities and transformed their own bodies and voices into powerful percussive sections. Over and over while I was painting this I kept thinking of thrumming wings and all the music we hear - what is this body for if not to be summoned for dancing?