Cheryl D. Edwards
Contemporary Artist
Baobab Tree, 2007, Oil on Canvas, 30 x30
Ndebele Swim,2007,oil on canvas, 24 x 18
Ndebele Marriage, 2007, oil on canvas, 18 x 24
Ndebele Walk About, 2007,oil on canvas, 17 x 20
Ndebele Journey, 2007, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 18
Mandela Protection,2007,oil on canvas, 18 x 24
Ndebele Family, 2007, oil on canvas, 20 x 20
Ndebele Cradle, 2007, Mixed Media, 26 x15 x 12
Ndebele Doll, 2008, Oil on Canvas, 20x20
Ndebele Ritual/ Play, 2008, Oil on Canvas, 20x20
Play B, 2013, Oil on Board, 30 x 40
Ndebele Series - 2007-2013
My interest in this community began many years ago in the 1980s throughout
the 1990s when I traveled extensively to many parts of Africa, (Senegal, Gambia, Ivory
Coast, Egypt, and South Africa). During these trips, my curiosity was fueled in
understanding ancestry and the commonalities among African Americans and Africans.
Many years later after the completion of research, observations and time building
relationships with Africans and their families here in the United States and in the
respective African countries that I have visited, I began developing a body of work. Two
specific series of work created are “The Door of Return” (16 oil works on canvas) and
“Ndebele Dolls/Ritual/Play”(17 oil works on canvas). Both series were exhibited in 2006
and 2007 respectively at the Wolhfarth Gallery as solo exhibitions in Washington, D.C.
My focus at that time was to understand the resilience of the Africans in Senegal as they
went through slavery landmarked by the history of the slave trade in Goree Island, and the
key elements of survival for the Ndebele Communities as they went through Apartheid
and Revolution without a Civil War.