Veena Veana
Cosmic Cowrie
24 in. x 30 in. Digital print on 1.5 in thick hand-stretched canvas with white frame
 
I created this piece using a single cowrie shell suspended in a deep, blue sky, after reflecting on the symbolism and significance of the cowrie shell in ancient African and African American culture. This piece suggests the roots of modern capitalism - and its attendant perils, from extreme pleasure to intense social and mental ills, can be traced all the way back to a single object from our collective past. At the same time, the work is meant to invoke conversations about the future of global currency. How will we buy, sell and trade in the future? This piece aims to suggest that by simplifying and returning to the ways in which we are, in essence, inseparably connected to the natural environment we live in, we can continue to thrive economically, beyond capitalism and into the cosmos.
 
LIMITED EDITION OF 25. Numbered, signed and dated on back. 
 
$1,000
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