Mami Wata

With such rich cultural and political imagery within the African American community, why would I, a black artist, focus solely on the subject of water? Well, perhaps the answer is in the current show at the Cantor Museum at Stanford University titled Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas. 

Zoumana Sane, Mami Wata, 1987. Pigment, glass. Collection of Herbert M. and Shelley Cole. Photo by Don Cole

Most viewers would be hard pressed to see any relationship between my ultra-realistic paintings of water and this tribal collection of sculpture and images. But both my wife and I felt a strong response and sense of recognition. We were reminded of a time in the mid-eighties when we were snorkeling in Hawaii. I am not a strong swimmer but I felt reasonably confident snorkeling above the reefs. Either my absorption with the tropical fish – all that rich color and pattern – or perhaps tidal drift carried me out beyond my ability to touch the ocean floor, and I panicked. I was way out beyond where anyone else was swimming. Off in the distance, very small, I could see my children playing on the beach. There was no way anyone would hear me if I called for help. I was sure I was going to drown, and surrendered to the inevitable.

Just then, out of nowhere, a large native Hawaiian woman was suddenly beside me, telling me to relax and float on my back. Her words immediately calmed me and I did what she said. I turned to thank her but she was gone.
How did she just appear and then disappear? How fortuitous that she showed up at my side exactly when I needed her. Was she a real woman, a goddess, a spirit? Ultimately, it doesn’t matter to me. She saved my life, and I have always been grateful.
But when my wife and I walked into the Mami Wata exhibit, we looked at each other and had a simultaneous ‘aha!’ moment. Mami Wata, the spirit honored by my ancestors, saved me that day. Perhaps she spoke through a real woman or as Hiʻiaka, the Hawaiian water goddess; but however she did it, she was there.
Suddenly the past decades of my painting fell into place. Without questioning why, I have devoted myself to painting water. Now I can see this intense focus as an expression of gratitude to Mami Wata for giving me back my life.