MY PRACTICE INVITES VIEWERS TO REFLECT ON WHO WE ARE, WHERE WE COME FROM, AND HOW OUR IDENTITIES ARE CONTINUALLY SHAPED BY THE PLACES AND HISTORIES WE INHABIT.

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MY PRACTICE BEGAN IN 2016, DURING A RECOVERY PERIOD THAT KEPT ME HOUSEBOUND FOLLOWING SURGERY. WHAT STARTED AS A WAY TO PASS THE TIME SOON GREW INTO A DEEP ENGAGEMENT WITH PAINTING - A PROCESS THAT ALLOWED ME TO DEVELOP A VISUAL LANGUAGE ROOTED IN BOTH EXPERIMENTATION AND SELF-DISCOVERY. DRAWING ON THE FOUNDATIONS OF MY GCSE AND A LEVEL ART EDUCATION UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF CHARLOTTE CHISHOLM, JO DE PEAR, EMILY GLASS, AND BRONWYN WAUGH AND TOBY DUNCAN I TRANSITIONED FROM EXPLORING DISCIPLINES SUCH AS PRINTMAKING, PHOTOGRAPHY, COLLAGE, AND CERAMICS TO FOCUSING ON PORTRAITURE AS MY PRIMARY MEDIUM.

 

IN THE EARLY YEARS (2016–2019), I CONCENTRATED ON RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PEOPLE, PLACE, AND MUSIC. WITHOUT ACCESS TO SITTERS, I TURNED TO MY OWN COMMUNITY, PAINTING FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES, AS WELL AS PUBLIC FIGURES WHOSE CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE RESONATED WITH BOTH MYSELF AND MY CLIENTS. THIS PERIOD WAS ESSENTIAL IN DEVELOPING TECHNICAL PROFICIENCY AND IN UNCOVERING THE CENTRAL THREAD OF MY PRACTICE: A DEEP EXPLORATION OF IDENTITY. THROUGH THIS WORK, I CAME TO RECOGNISE THAT MY NIGERIAN AND BLACK BRITISH HERITAGE FORMS

THE TRUEST FOUNDATION OF MY SENSE OF SELF AND BELONGING.

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INFLUENCED BY THINKERS SUCH AS CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE, BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH, STUART HALL (PARTICULARLY FAMILIAR STRANGER) AND ARTISTS INCLUDING SONIA BOYCE, JAMES BARNOR, CHRIS OFILI, LYNETTE YIADOM-BOAKYE, STEVE MCQUEEN’S SMALL AXE SERIES AND SPIKE LEE FILMS SUCH AS SCHOOL DAZE AND MALCOM X, I BEGAN TO SITUATE MY WORK WITHIN BROADER CONVERSATIONS ON BLACKNESS, PAN-AFRICANISM, AND THE DIASPORIC EXPERIENCE. FROM 2019 ONWARDS, MY PRACTICE HAS MOVED BEYOND PERSONAL NARRATIVE TO INTERROGATE THE INTERSECTIONS OF HISTORY, POLITICS, MUSIC, AND POWER THAT SHAPE COLLECTIVE AND INDIVIDUAL IDENTITIES ACROSS CULTURAL BOUNDARIES.

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NAVIGATING THE LIMINAL SPACE BETWEEN NIGERIAN, BLACK BRITISH AND THE MULTITUDE BRITISH SUB-CULTURES AND ENVIRONMENTS SURROUNDING ME HAS SHARPENED MY PERSPECTIVE, ALLOWING ME TO EMBRACE BOTH THE BEAUTY AND THE TENSIONS OF THIS MULTI-FACETED IDENTITY. RATHER THAN RESOLVING THESE DISSONANCES, I USE THEM AS A GENERATIVE FORCE TO CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS,

REVEALING CONTRADICTIONS AND UNCOVERING SHARED HUMANITY.

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THROUGH A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH SPANNING PAINTING, VISUAL MEDIA, SOUND AND MUSIC, WRITING, AND PARTICIPATORY PROJECTS, I AIM TO CREATE WORK THAT NOT ONLY BRIDGES CULTURAL IDENTITIES BUT ALSO PROBES DEEPER QUESTIONS OF BELONGING, RESILIENCE, AND TRANSFORMATION.

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ULTIMATELY, MY ART IS BOTH A PERSONAL RECKONING AND A PUBLIC INQUIRY.

IT IS A SPACE WHERE I CAN EXPLORE, CONFRONT, AND COLOURFULLY REIMAGINE WHAT IT MEANS TO BELONG!