Oil, latex, acrylic on canvas
111 x 83 x 2.5 ″

Slavery did not end when the Blacks were freed. Beginning in 1895, one hundred Italian families were lured to work at the prominent Sunnyside Cotton Plantation in Lake Village, Arkansas in Chicot County; Tamboli's paternal grandparents were among them. Breakthrough Chicot is a nod to his grandparents' "breakthroughs" in departing Italy for the American Dream, self-discovery, and their ultimate escape from the plantation. Tamboli explores his lineage and desire to continue his personal creative explorations and employs new creative and physical freedom by sliding and jumping into the canvas and paint during creation. His continued use of masking and unmasking a canvas, allowing for planned, and accidental, compositions continue the breakthroughs into multiple picture planes and new realms, near and far.