This archaic Sakha Chitcherik statue commands attention with the majestic presence of the founding ancestor, emerging from the earth in a slow, deliberate movement that speaks of its evocative power. The remarkable dynamism plays on the tension between the hieratic form of the original trunk and the subtle asymmetries of the sculpture, drawing the eye towards the imposing head, whose moving line of the headdress and the grain of the deeply eroded hardwood heighten its poignancy. From this striking metamorphosis, which blends the clan’s history with the natural world, the work has retained fragments of the original bark, perceived as the ravaged skin of the ancestor. Provenance: Jonas de Boeck, Belgium #afrohemian26