IVORY COAST - Monique Le Houeller who was born in Hue, Vietnam, lives and works in Abidjan, and is the only artist in this group who has adopted Africa as her home. After extensive travel throughout the continent, Monique says she is inspired by the variety of natural phenomena she has seen as well as the utensils used, customs practiced, and items discarded. Her aspirations are to capture the essential, the emotional and the spiritual. Blue Door pays homage to the blue men of the vast Sahara – the Touareg. They are called the blue men because of the hand dyed indigo clothing they wear. It is not a color fast dye and moves onto their skin. The desert opens the door to them as their nomadic life takes them from place to place. Doors in general are very important in many regions of Africa where people desire to welcome only positive energy into their home. Divination Table is symbolic of the wooden divining board widely used by oracles throughout West Africa to predict one’s fortune, the cause of illness, the identity of who in the village might be playing tricks, or what gender your baby will be. Rather than use a board or table, the Dogon compose a drawing in the sand that they leave unattended overnight. It is believed that a mythical animal, the “renard pale” visits the drawing during the night and changes it. The next day the shaman reads it and predicts the future. The Idea of Water alludes to the widespread concern for this crucial natural resource in the arid areas of many countries bordering the vast Sahara. The piece of glass represents the precious water. Tears (les Larmes du Sahel) is a textured flat irregular shaped metal piece supported by seven spikes. Smaller metal pieces have been attached randomly like patches and seven other nails echo those that support, with five bordering open areas, or rips. This piece is evocative of the hardship and suffering caused by the absence of water in the Sahel, the parched desert region of Africa. All lives have existential tears, breaks and bruises – as well as tears in moments of sadness.