Year: 2023
Medium: hand-made ceramic tiles, acrylic paint, gold leaf, and wood
Dimensions: 135 x 160 x 6.8 cm (53 1/8 x 63 x 2 5/8 in.)
Acquired from Goodman Gallery, 2024
This work, which gives the impression of rigidity, is composed of handmade ceramic tiles. Tiles in three colors—ash blue, navy, and gray—are neatly arranged to form a regular grid. Two gentle parabolic curves cut across the space. The gold and blue outlines precisely mark out the territories of each curve, yet partially overlap. Kiwanga conducts her own research to unravel history and breathe new life, before our very eyes, into events that had been marginalized and overlooked by conventional histories. Titled “Estuary”, this piece prompts the viewers to consider what emerges at the meeting point of freshwater and seawater. “Cascade,” “Magma,” “Rift,” and “Dune” are examples of other works created around the same time and similarly named for geological terms describing the natural world. As a material, the use of tile evokes the history of human culture, industry, and technology, which developed from soil taken from the earth and flame to fire the soil. Additionally, the combination of gold and deep blue holds particular significance in art, as they have been used symbolically in painting as the colors of the Virgin Mary and of royalty or nobility. It also evokes the history of lapis lazuli, a marine blue pigment that was valuable as an important commercial commodity. The gold line appears to invade the blue line’s territory.
