sky walker

Mother of the Water, 2025

Paper Collage on Bristol Paper

11 in x 14 in (27.94 cm x 35.56 cm)

Mother of the Water honors the strength of women who protected their children, the ancestors who guided us toward freedom, and the spiritual currents that ripple throughout Black cultures today. From Yemoja to Mami Wata, La Sirene to Maman de l'Eau, water spirits of the African diaspora were carried across the Atlantic with memory and devotion as protectors and guides. Originating in traditional African beliefs, these presences metamorphosed across cultures, bringing with them a deep faith in survival, strength, and wisdom in the wake of the transatlantic slave trade. They remind us how water is a wellspring of infinite return, a vessel of protection, a current of rebirth. In their divine presence, those who passed are remembered, the living are empowered, and the future is guided forward by way of water.