The warriors way: seeds for cultivating the timeless.

London: 2023

1 drawing : coffee, water-soluble graphite, pencil, watercolour, and ink on paper, 55 x 77 cm

Charmaine Watkiss 2023 (signed in pencil)

This warrior is the Aframomum melegueta pepper and is part of the ginger family. It is anti inflammatory and has many medicinal uses. It was often mixed with kola and eaten in Ghana. My works are set against the backdrop of colonialism and resistance. I seek to find stories of empowerment and what better way to demonstrate that than through the indigenous African knowledge of plants. This knowledge enabled runaway slaves such as the Maroons in Jamaica to survive in inhospitable conditions. The deep knowing around plant properties enabled some enslaved to use plants as weapons against their enslavers. My stories connect to the wider diaspora whether they are African American, Afro Brazilian or Afro Caribbean - the thread weaves many similar untold stories together, stories of survival against the odds. Many of the plants I speak about in my work have also made the voyage to the ‘new world’ on the ships along with the enslaved.

My warrior women speak about the colonial in the way that they are constructed. They reference portraiture of the enlightenment era, they have neck pieces which are constructed from the fruit or the flower of their species - echoingthe victorian lace collar in many historical paintings. They are set against a wallpaper, the pattern of which is the leaf of their plant. They all have a very formal regal pose (again referencing historical portraiture). Within the works are embedded symbols which connect to resistance - they are Adinkra symbols (Ghanaian symbols which have proverbs attached to them). She has a tattoo on her arm and a repeating pattern on her dress which is the Adinkra symbol ‘Aya’ - the the fern, a symbol of endurance and resourcefulness.

This particular warrior tells the story of ancient trade routes. The Melegueta pepper was a sought after spice long before the Portuguese came to dominate maritime trade with West African tribes. Also known as ‘Grains of paradise’ these plants are native to Africa’s West coast, namely the countries Ghana, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Togo and Nigeria which I have indicated with the masks hanging from the boat around her neck. I felt it important to tell the story of trade long before Maafa (the great tragedy / African enslavement) because often the diaspora story starts with enslavement, and our history is greater than that. This plant also had sacred use - often paired with Kola for this purpose, and is subtly indicated in sun / moon / earth symbols on her fingers. The continuous unbroken thread that she holds also alludes to the sacred/connection with universal forces. Each warrior has a marking on the ‘third eye’ point in the forehead which let’s us know whether they are an annual / biannual / perennial / deciduous plant. It is their dna encoded on them in a spiritual sense. --Charmaine Watkiss

Title provided by the artist.

Wellcome Collection 3358541i

Charmaine Watkiss, 2023. ©Charmaine Watkiss. All rights reserved, DACS 2024

Exhibited in 'Hard Graft' at Wellcome Collection, London, 18 September 2024 - 27 April 2025.