Before We Learned to Worry, Portrait

Before we learned to worry, happiness was not a performance. There was a time when joy did not have to be earned, and an open heart was never too much. We ran because our legs could carry us, not because we were running from something. We laughed and we loved without bracing for disappointment. This portrait sits with that loss. It looks at the crossing from a carefree childhood into the complicated business of being an adult, and it quietly mourns the version of ourselves that existed before fear and anxiety became daily company. The face is built from hand painted blocks of colour, a pixel mosaic that only resolves into a girl once you step back, the way memory does. About this piece Medium: acrylic paint on hand cut oval canvas Subject: portrait of a young African girl, contemporary African art Size: 20.32 cm W x 30.48 cm H x 2.54 cm D (8 x 12 x 1 inches) Series: one of six original works from the Kilomode Mo miniature series Edition: original, one of one. This is not a print or a reproduction Care: dust gently with a dry cloth and keep out of direct sunlight