Inheriting the Trade

“Katrina made a movie. I wrote a book. Each family member furthers the message of Traces of the Trade in ways they find most effective for them. Elizabeth is an artist.”

— Tom DeWolf

Artwork by Elizabeth Sturges Llerena

The photographs and artwork on this page feature the creations of Elizabeth Sturges Llerena, who was one of the ten family members on the journey.

To see a full-sized version of any photograph, just click on the image.

The watercolors below were created by Elizabeth as potential artwork for Inheriting the Trade. As it turns out, no artwork, and only one photo of the Family of Ten, was included in the book. We hope you enjoy them here.

Dungeons	River
Two Women	"... One Gun for six or seven or ten people to go into the interior to Get People to Have Guns to Protect Against THE INVADERS Who you got the GUNS from."
The drawings and pictures below are from a dress Elizabeth created entitled “What’s Hidden Underneath” that was shown in the “Cultural Redress” exhibit at Queens Library, New York (September 2006 – January 2007). The outer dress is adorned with portraits of Senator James DeWolf, the family’s leading slave trader. The front opening of the dress exposes African Americans and other people of color who remain invisible or only partially visible to many white Americans today. “What’s Hidden Underneath” represents one of the many legacies of slavery.
Underneath	Completed study for "What's Hidden Underneath"
Elizabeth displays the dress	Speak no evil
The "No Talk Rule"