The Baye Fall series has been a long time coming. I began studying the Sabar, the national dance of Senegal in the early nineties. Since then, Sabar, and the music and culture of Senegal has been an enduring and underlying inspiration. Senegalese culture brings a very specific combination of depth, power, devotion, and joy. In 2019 I returned to Dakar with my daughter after not having been there in 20 years. Being immersed in the culture again, in community with the Baye Fall people, I knew it was time to express what has always stirred so much in me. The crack of the Sabar drum, the sound of Youssou N’Dour’s magnificent voice, the great beauty of the Baye Fall. It was time to express and honor the mystery of how this moves through me visually. In these twenty + years, my body, mind and heart have absorbed a world that I feel infinitely connected to. I trust and obey this inner knowing always. The Sabar rhythms are the most sophisticated rhythms. Precise and gorgeously abstract. Great beauty and power. Challenging and joyous. Disciplined and free. 

I call this series Baye Fall in honor of a society and a religion that values the true meaning of “waste not want not”. Nothing is thrown out that has use, and the outcome is gorgeous. Their clothes are made from left over scraps of fabric. My collages are created from remnants of my own wardrobe saved over the years. 

As with all of my work, regardless of medium, there is no plan, no underdrawing or sketching.
Shape by shape these are layered until the form comes through. It is a process of deciphering a being emerging. All of the music I listened to while creating these were by male musicians. I am deeply moved by men singing for and about God. Youssou N’Dour, Cheihk Lo, Baaba Maal, et al. My Baye Fall figures are all female. In the same way a dancer receives and interprets the drummer’s rhythm, I am expressing this dynamic visually. I am receptive to the Creator. When I pay close attention I am on time, on the rhythm, and making the work I am meant to. When I receive benevolent power with reverence, explosive dynamic beauty arrives. The Baye Fall series honors and demonstrates this infinite process.