Through paintings like this one, Jan Wade honours the narratives of her ancestors and builds upon these storytelling traditions with her own experiences. When Wade was a child, her great-grandmother would tell her Bible parables and stories of the Fish Woman, the Flower People, and the Flower Spirits. Wade later connected these tales to a common pool of stories that flowed from Africa to the Americas and through successive generations (Wade’s great-grandmother’s mother was born into slavery in Virginia). In this painting, Wade presents a contemporary interpretation of the Flower Spirits. She has incorporated elements of her distinctive visual vocabulary, including horseshoes turned upward to catch luck, all-seeing eyes, swimming sperm, tree stumps, and eight balls. Wade’s graphic-influenced painting style is marked by a distinctive bold black line and echoes of Cubism, folk art, and comic art.