Akima McPherson: Omawale Lumumba’s Galaxy I is a deceptive piece in what it seems to be saying. At first you see two forms interlocked in what seems to be a harmonious interaction. They remind of hands working together. But soon the tension contained within the form challenges that reading and this simple and straightforward work becomes full of interpretive possibilities.
Stanley Greaves: Omawale’s Galaxy is a work that is based on symmetry, which is a feature of images seen of galaxies. Interesting that he chose to express the idea as sculpture and not painting seeing that colour is a feature of galaxies. Perhaps the notion of speed and the fact of galaxies occupying space interested him. The spiral arms of the sculpture do create a sense of movement as in the spiral arms of galaxies. The small sphere locked in the centre is actually movable.
AM: I smile because you have illustrated for me why I encourage my students to connect with the work on their terms and not try to read into the work the workings of the artist’s thinking or to rely on the artist’s words or explanations in order to have a relationship with the work. I am not a ‘science person’. So when I look at Galaxy I, I don’t see the science. I see more metaphysical leanings and this is as valid as your thoughts about the work, no