Mocoonama
Date2012
MediumAcrylic, colored pencil, watercolor, waxy chalk, and enamel on vellum
Dimensions87 × 73 × 2 in. (221 × 185.4 × 5.1 cm)
ClassificationsMixed Media
Credit LineCourtesy Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
Label TextIn her multilayered drawing and painting practice, Mequitta Ahuja casts herself as mythic warriors, epic heroes, and power figures descending from traditions across cultures. Such power emerges in Mocoonama, a self-portrait in which the central figure strikes a triumphant pose over those who would challenge her authority. The archetypal figures in her work indicate the artist’s investment in her own cultural background as an Indian American and African American. In a practice she deems “automythography,” the artist combines aspects of real imagery with invented characters and settings from a mixture of sources, consolidating her own power as both the subject and the creator of the image.
