I painted this self portrait in 2024 and it has only hung up prominently in my house in 2025. I call it an ode to Sara
A portrait of this woman on fire
no one would hear me scream
on dying a south african woman
scour
on love and sex
we never lived
of social death and reactionary awakenings
writing as breathing
on the freedom of writing
autumn
i imagine had i fallen i would want you to treat it as autumn as if I were leaf falling from a tree, nature running its course do not gesticulate and fan yourselves wildly as if burning from the summer heat i had long been a flower losing its light
your light, my heart
of love and softness
for her. for us.
An ode to Winnie Madikizela Mandela
They Call Me Baartman
Self love is unlearning the centuries old myths of black undesirability, Unlearning self-hatred Self-love is Sara-Baartma
mamello.art 