Aja of the Orishas

AJA OF THE ORISHAS Acrylic, Conté & Charcoal on Canvas | 36" × 50" | 2019

She was here before language had words for her.

Aja — Orisha of the forest, keeper of plants, whisperer to animals. She knows the name of every living thing and the medicine hidden inside it. She wears her armour like Joan of Arc — not as a soldier but as a sovereign. She does not ask permission to take up space. She has never needed to.

In this painting she emerges from darkness, her skin the deep blue-green of ancient water, crowned with a headdress of tropical leaves, anthuriums and orchids that spill upward like a living ecosystem. A golden bird rests at her shoulder — witness, familiar, messenger. A slash of raw crimson red tears down the canvas like a wound or a war cry, disrupting the charcoal grey at her feet where the world falls apart into paint and ash.

She is not from one time. She stretches across all of them.

Rendered in acrylic, conté and charcoal, this is painting that operates on multiple frequencies simultaneously — mythological and contemporary, tender and fierce, deeply rooted and completely untameable. The raw, layered surface rewards close looking. There is always something else to find.

Aja of the Orishas is a significant work. The kind that doesn't wait for the right collector — it recognises them.

📦 Shipping & Details

• 36" × 50" original on canvas
• Mixed media — acrylic, conté and charcoal
• Ships carefully rolled in a professional tube
• Can be shipped pre-stretched on request — contact us before purchasing for a shipping quote at cost
• Certificate of authenticity included
• Signed and dated 2019

One original. No reproductions. A work of genuine consequence.