Gail Cuthbert Artist

NEW SERIES - AFRICAN SPIRITUALITY Yoruba Orisha Pantheon 

After I completed my Zodiac series, I took a couple of commissions, to keep my hand in while I was considering my next project. I also completed “Emerald Legacy” which explored the Divine Feminine through our ancestors. Emerald Legacy is available as high quality canvas prints only, as I have decided to keep the original for the time being as I am in love with it.  

I am currently working on a painting entitled “The real cost of war” which is how I process my feelings about current events.  However, it is hard going as every day there is a new atrocity causing shockwaves across the world.  

So, I have decided to work on that piece between other less emotive paintings.  I have always been interested in spiritualism, and began considering my own Caribbean background.   The European pagan beliefs are frequently documented and there are many depictions of the Celtic and Nordic gods and goddesses.  I began researching the Yoruba Orisha Pantheon; the Slave Trade led to the spread of African cultures across the Caribbean and  Afro Caribbean religions, such as Shango in Trinidad, Vodou in Haiti, and Santeria in Cuba have roots in Yoruba traditional religion.  My research made me realise that there were more similarities in the old religions than differences.

This sent me down a rabbit hole, so now I am starting a new series on the Orisha Pantheon, interpreting the Orisha onto canvas. 

The Yoruba people have a rich and complex religious tradition that has been passed down through generations.  I have started with Oshun, who is one of the most significant deities in the Orisha Pantheon. As a goddess of rivers and fresh waters, Oshun holds dominion over life giving forces. She nurtures and sustains life.  Oshun attracts wealth and abundance to those who honour her and as a goddess of love, she represents the emotional bonds which unite people.  In my opinion, she is similar to Brigid in the Celtic pagan belief, the goddess of spring and renewal.

“Beneath the Surface” portrays a contemplative face suspended in turquoise currents. Oshun has a small smile on her face as she holds a water lily to her lips, accepting our offering. A butterfly fish, a West African fresh water fish, weaves through the translucent layers, which both conceal and reveal. Green eyes glint with a secret; witty, tender and slightly uncanny.