As the neophyte sculptor prepared to add plaster to the armature of "Journey to the Coast," (the first work in what would become the Forgotten Heritage series,) he paused and looked at the wire base he had constructed and decided he liked it the way it was. The openness of the wire and aluminum mesh framework seemed to add another dimension to the subject.

The tall, slender, gentle-natured man from Congo had many things he wanted to say: as an artist, a man, an African, an American. Through sculpture, he had found his voice.

That N'Kele was now a different person was soon very apparent. He was no longer content to do portraits of celebrities or the happy, playful sketches of modern-day African life that had once been his forte. His new work was heavily influenced by African history, and included many emotionally wrenching tableau works dealing with slavery. He drew from memories of his youth as well as events he had studied in school in Congo. His personal losses and his problems adapting to living a world vastly different from that which had been familiar, compelled him to look with greater comprehension into the past.

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