Ode to Kinshasa is named for the capital of Congo (formerly Zaire), a central African republic that Lois Mailou Jones had visited two years earlier. Unlike much of Jones's previous art, this example is neither academic nor impressionistic in style and has no overt political content. Jones's sketch reveals that she had already decided on the abstract composition and color scheme for the finished work. She made only minor adjustments yet created two distinct moods in the works through her treatment of the painted edges.

The fresh, loose, and unstudied quality of the sketch is replaced in the painting by strong geometric patterns and unexpectedly varied textures achieved through collage. Touches of shiny gold foil and creamy Japanese rice paper are pasted on amid the painted forms. This surface richness lends additional visual interest to Jones's mysterious, shieldlike form.