Awol Erizku’s series of five bronze sculptures, Mother II, The Beautiful One Has Come Home to the Ugly Truth, Proposal for a New Sphinx in an African Context: I, Mother I, and Nefertiti Sphinx, presents an audacious reimagining of Queen Nefertiti, an iconic figure of African heritage, merged with various powerful symbols. Housed in custom-built ‘cultural safes,’ these sculptures transform Nefertiti into a complex symbol of cultural ownership and resilience, fusing her likeness with potent objects: a scorpion, a Sphinx, a mask, a spider, and a skull. This is the first time the artist has cast in bronze.

Erizku’s exploration of Nefertiti began in Cairo and culminated in Berlin, where the original bust resides, provoking an emotional and intellectual exploration of her image. This experience, deeply informed by the colonial history surrounding her bust, permeates the entire series, where Erizku transforms her into a figure of Black omnipresence. By encasing her within safes, Erizku symbolically addresses themes of preservation and cultural sovereignty, challenging the politics of her contested image and the institutions that safeguard it. The presence of the gun, echoing motifs in his paintings, further amplifies the threats posed by cultural and ideological control, transforming Nefertiti into a focal point in contemporary debates on cultural heritage and identity reclamation.