Cultural Projects

My Cultural Projects are where Art and Anthropology meet — and fall in love.

Anthropology has long been an academic discipline of words, but in my books I explore culture from the viewpoint of a visual artist — and I get my hands pretty dirty doing it.

During my travels through the rural West African countryside, I sought to immerse myself in the culture of the places I visited. My goal was to understand how the lives of those living in traditional societies are informed by a fundamentally different view of the world than is found in Western society. And because I’m a musician, I explored how other cultures use music to create powerful, sacred experiences that reinforce their relationship with the natural world.

After the travels are over, what I’m left with is stories — stories of real people facing unique challenges living on Earth. I create art that carries these stories inside them. Art, it turns out, is a pretty handy vessel for communicating both information and emotions. I therefore attempt to make my research beautiful, and my art thoughtful and informed.

My cultural projects take the reader off the beaten path, to glimpse a sliver of the human experience they might not ordinarily see. Along the way, we might just catch a better glimpse of ourselves, too.

Cultural Projects:

Click the thumbnails below to learn more about a project.