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‘Wall of Water’ was inspired by the mysterious and remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, floating like hidden precious gems in the turquoise blue waters of the Bay of Bengal. During my travels in this island territory of India, I learned of the Onge people, whose tribe has lived there with little contact from the outside world for close to 50,000 years. They are on the verge of extinction with a current population near 100. If it weren't for their traditional folklore, passed down from generation to generation, they may already have become extinct.
One of their oral folktales, which this artwork was inspired by, tells of a great ‘Wall of Water’ destroying the land and their people. The legend told of evil spirits taking huge boulders out of the stars and throwing them at the sea. It warned its people that the descending sea water would rapidly return to cover much more of the land, and angry spirits would descend down to hunt them away. This story became a lifesaving prophecy for them when the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami devastated the island.
On that fateful day when the earth shook and water suddenly ran out to sea, the aboriginal tribe took guidance from their folklore, and fled into the jungle to higher ground, wearing their ancestral bones for protection. Moments later, the tsunami slammed into their settlement, destroying everything that came into its path. Every single one of the 96 Onge people survived that day, and the existence of their people still lives on today.
'Wall of Water' was inspired by this ancient legend of the Onge people. It tells of the power of the great ocean, and the strong connection and ultimate protection of the Onge tribe’s spiritual ancestors.
Created with sand and shells collected from the shores of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India, rhinestones, bindis + metallic acrylic and oil paints on three 12" x 30" gallery wrapped canvases.(36" x30" overall dimensions.)
