36” x 60” 

The first work that Cronin created upon his return home to New York, "E. Africanus" serves as a deconstructed reflection of his experiences in Sinthian. While he was only in Senegal for one month, it was his nearly thirty-year practice in which he frequently re-arranges found material and assimilates varied cultural markers into his work that allowed him to engage with the community at Thread. Formally arranged to refer to the Senegalese flag, E. Africanus draws upon the flag’s design while directly stripping it of its colors. By relocating the Pan-African colors (red, yellow, and green) to a separate sphere, Cronin focuses on Senegal as a nation in itself. Furthermore, the addition of a donkey on top of the official flag design’s centralized star foregrounds Senegal’s agricultural history. Symbolic and yet highly practical, the donkey acts as an engine for the country -- to plow, to pull, to transport, and to enable development, both artistic and financial.