Matare
Medium
PaintingMaterial
Oil PaintDescription
This painting is a striking visual narrative rooted in Zimbabwean totemism (mitupo) and ancestral communication. The central woman, adorned in zebra patterns, represents both the vessel and the spirit medium—a bridge between past and present. Her gesture, holding a clay pot, invokes kupira, the sacred act of making offerings to the ancestors. Surrounding her are symbolic footprints and handprints, signifying ancestral presence and spiritual guidance.
The zebra and lion totems merge in layered forms, representing unity between different lineages or ancestral spirits. The watchful male figure, half-emerging, symbolizes the spiritual observer—one who is both grounded in reality and connected to deeper realms. This painting honors the way totem, gender, and spirit coexist in Zimbabwean cosmology, showing that identity is not singular but woven through animal, earth, and ancestral line.Try it!
