|
| Home | Documents | Bibliography | Press Reports | Reflections | Credits |
Artist's Depiction of Priscilla
Charleston artist Dana Coleman recently produced this remarkable portrait of Priscilla. Coleman’s image shows the enslaved child standing between two adult Africans who, like her, had been captured and marched to the sea to be sold to European ships. To compose Priscilla's face, Mr. Coleman morphed a school photograph of Thomalind Martin Polite taken at age 10 with pictures of modern Sierra Leonean children. The artist’s goal was to portray an African child with a family resemblance to Mrs. Polite. Coleman says he gave Priscilla an expression of determination, the face of a child determined to survive. When Mrs. Polite travels to Sierra Leone in May, she will present the original of Mr. Coleman’s painting to the Sierra Leone National Museum, and copies to Sierra Leone’s President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and US Ambassador Thomas Hull. An adaptation of Coleman's painting will adorn posters celebrating Priscilla's Homecoming in Sierra Leone. For more information on Dana Coleman and his work, visit:
|
