Painter Aïcha Sacha grew up in a little village in Germany. Her father was from Germany and her mother from Benin in Africa, and she says there were no other Black people in town. This experience of feeling as if she were on display followed her in Germany, and made its way into her paintings.

Last year Sacha moved to Marseille in France as part of her effort to focus full time on her art. Her work centers Black women in a vibrant world filled with mystery and beauty, and sometimes pain. The paintings often resemble portraits but the people in them don’t always inhabit a place and time, more an experience or feeling.

The longer she lives in France, fewer of her subjects live in cages.

Host Terrell J Starr talks to Sacha about being a Black woman in Europe, why most of her clients are American, and how the coastal tourist hotspot she lives in is dealing with ‘dat Rona.

She has an amazing Instagram of course.

To purchase her work or learn more about it go to her website.

Thank you for listening!