In the exhibition, a yellow string guides the viewer from piece to piece. A key component are the traditional African fabrics that Goncalves incorporates into the work. Using fabrics purchased from House of Mami Wata, Goncalves selects patterns worn by his family growing up, paying close attention to the tone the patterns and colors convey in each of the paintings - red fabrics evoke the fear he felt, and yellow fabrics represent hope. The textiles, in combination with his painting techniques, symbolically express the messaging within his work, and his experience learning to balance these disparate cultures.
Featured is the “Mother” series, an ongoing series that represents the artist's mother and home country of Angola. The paintings are created using non-traditional canvases, including fabric and wooden boards covered with newspaper clippings. Beyond the vivid colors, implied movement, and impasto application of paint is a common theme of the weight of responsibility the artist's mother carried, raising her children in Angola before emigrating to America.