Betye Saar described a 1970 visit to the Field Museum in Chicago as “an important step in my development as an artist, because I saw lots and lots of African art, Oceanic art, and Egyptian art.” The materials and the cultural meanings of these works impacted her deeply, and she drew on these in her practice. Here, she references the gelede ceremonies of Yoruba-speaking communities in southwestern Nigeria, annual performances celebrating the life force of women. Instead of copying the formal features of masks from those ceremonies, Saar invented her own imagery.