Abstract This article explores how Ivorian artist Ouattara Watts (b. 1957) employs African cosmology and philosophy to develop a universal visual language. It traces his artistic evolution from formal training in Paris through his move to New York, beginning with early figurative works inspired by Dogon and Mande traditions. The study centers on his significant shift to symbolic abstraction in the 1990s, when he started transforming the picture plane into a sculptural surface by adding found objects, soil, and textile fragments as symbolic elements. Through close formal analysis and attention to the artist's explanations of his methodology, I argue that Watts's work presents a radical reimagining of abstraction as a syncretic practice capable of holding multiple epistemologies in productive tension. It proposes that rigorous analysis and mystical speculation are not opposing modes but complementary languages for expressing shared truths about our place in the universe. Additionally, the article reveals how Watts uses complex systems of code and metaphor—a deliberate veiling strategy—to embed political allegories within cosmic themes. Ultimately, it suggests that Watts's commitment to African epistemology generates a global dialogue that transcends geographical boundaries and connects to the “deep time” of human existence, demonstrating how deeply local knowledge can serve as the basis for a universal vision.
Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi (Fri,) studied this question.