BORN OF WOOD: When Faith Takes Form
About a year and a half ago, I had the idea to put together my first online catalog, and today I’m finally sharing it. What started as a small personal project gradually grew into two volumes, simply to keep things manageable.
The result is *Born of Wood: Where Faith Takes Form*, a catalog centered on African fertility figures, primarily Akan akua’ba, along with a small group of closely related works. This project gave me the opportunity to slow down and spend real time with each object: photographing them, writing about them, and thinking more deeply about why I was drawn to them in the first place.
This catalog is not meant to be exhaustive or overly academic. It’s a personal look at a group of figures I’ve lived with, handled, and learned from over time. Some works are available, others are not, but all are included because they felt important to the story I wanted to tell.
Putting this together took much longer than I expected, but in the process I learned a lot—about photography, about writing, and about the objects themselves. I’m grateful to the friends, collectors, and scholars who offered guidance and encouragement along the way.
Both volumes are now live, and the objects are on my website. I hope you enjoy spending some time with them.
Thank you, as always, for your continued interest and support.
Volume 1 online catalog link
Volume 2 online catalog link
The catalogs are best viewed on a desktop or something with a larger screen so you can appreciate the two-page layouts.
BoW-1
BoW-2
BoW-3
BoW-4
BoW-5
BoW-6
BoW-7
BoW-8
BoW-9
BoW-10
BoW-11
BoW-12
BoW-13
BoW-14
BoW-15
BoW-16
BoW-17
BoW-18
BoW-19
BoW-20
BoW-21
BoW-22
BoW-23
BoW-25
BoW-26
BoW-27
BoW-28
BoW-29
BoW-30
BoW-31
BoW-32
BoW-33
BoW-34
BoW-35
BoW-36
BoW-37
BoW-38
BoW-39
BoW-40
BoW-41
BoW-42
BoW-43
BoW-44
BoW-45
BoW-46
BoW-47
BoW-48
BoW-49
BoW-50
BoW-51
BoW-52
BoW-53
BoW-54
My first akua’ba, the figure BoW-1, came into my life almost by accident in 2002. I wasn’t looking for one at the time. I had gone to see a dealer who had brought a Senufo mask to town for me, and along with it, he showed me this figure.
I was very new to African art at the time, and I had only encountered akua’ba in books. Those images had shaped my expectations—blackened surfaces, familiar silhouettes, a look that felt almost standardized. This one didn’t fit. I hesitated, then sat with it quietly, turning it over in my hands for a long time. Something about it was compelling in a way I couldn’t explain, so I took a chance.
Later, when I shared photographs of this akua’ba, some felt it was unfortunate that the surface had worn away. With time, I came to understand how special and unique this figure was. Its surface speaks to long handling, and the shape of its head and neck is unlike most others I’ve encountered.
That figure changed the way I looked at everything that came after it. It taught me that collecting is not only about acquiring objects—it is about learning how to see.
That very first figure that I bought ended up being sold to my friend Bobbi Hamill back in 2008. I was thankful that it went to her because it meant that I could still see it often. She lived with it and enjoyed it for sixteen years before kindly gifting it back to me in 2024. The drawing of the figure was done by her husband, the talented Tim Hamill in 2021. He has been drawing things from her collection over the years, and she kindly gifted me the drawing along with the figure.
I’ve always enjoyed putting together assemblages of objects—sometimes from a single culture, sometimes centered around a particular type. Over the years I’ve done this with headrests, staffs and sticks, Lobi bateba figures, and Pende masks and figures, and to a degree akua’mma as well.
In the past, I never managed to hold onto a group of akua’mma for very long. Once I had a small group of them, I would inevitably end up selling them all quickly, since they were popular among collectors. This collection has been a little different. It was put together over a period of time by choosing examples that I found unusual or particularly interesting that I connected with in one way or another.
I have enjoyed living with them and have had them all on display together on a long table in my house. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a display of objects as much as I’ve enjoyed being able to look at the group of them every day.
