By: Joel Nakamura

Medium: mixed polymers on hand tooled tin panel
Year: circa 2004
Image Size: 14 × 14 inches
Unique

Tribes exemplifies Nakamura’s distinctive ability to merge myth, symbolism, and meticulous craftsmanship into a single, mesmerizing image. Executed on a hand-tooled tin panel, the work presents a fantastical creature—part dragon, part serpent—locked in a dynamic relationship with a vividly patterned mask-like face. The creature’s body is divided into geometric sections filled with intricate dot and line patterns, echoing both tribal art traditions and Nakamura’s signature stylization. The background, etched with ghostly human and animal visages, adds layers of narrative, suggesting ancestral spirits or collective memory rising behind the central figures. The tin border, hammered and scalloped, frames the work like a sacred retablo, reinforcing its sense of ritual and timelessness