VIEW IN MY ROOM
United Kingdom
Printmaking, Ballpoint Pen on Paper
Size: 23.2 W x 16.5 H x 0 D in
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Artist featured in a collection
Framed Limited Edition Giclée Print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm (smooth matt finish). 594 X 420 mm Signed and numbered by the artist. Edition of 50. Embracing one’s ethnic heritage while living in an ethnocentric county of the United Kingdom, such as Kent, is a dichotomy. Nuanced prejudices in this petri dish of suburban British society serve to constantly remind you that if you are not white, you are different. This notion seems to be perpetually present in social situations of which people attempt to touch my hair. This may seem perfectly innocuous to be intrigued by hair that is different to the norm, but looking below that veneer of innocent curiosity you will find the root of racial prejudice. For a Caucasian person to ask to touch afro hair or in many cases pat one’s head without asking, is a demeaning act having connotations of petting an animal. Thus, making an individual feel less than. The texts used in the collaged ground provide a means of contextualising the portrait by acting as a catalyst for the expression of pan African pride. Pragmatically selected pages from the 1940s ‘Sierra Leone studies’ book, is a crucial part of the process as this expresses the strong ties I have to my heritage; placing them in a new domain to show exactly where my afro hair comes from. This work focuses on one aspect of the Afro-British experience in modern society that I hope exemplifies larger socio-political issues which will resonate with ethnic minorities.
Printmaking:Ballpoint Pen on Paper
Artist Produced Limited Edition of:50
Size:23.2 W x 16.5 H x 0 D in
Frame:Not Framed
Ready to Hang:Not applicable
Packaging:Ships in a Box
Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.
Handling:Ships in a box. Artists are responsible for packaging and adhering to Saatchi Art’s packaging guidelines.
Ships From:United Kingdom.
Customs:Shipments from United Kingdom may experience delays due to country's regulations for exporting valuable artworks.
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United Kingdom
My practice looks to empower often marginalised minorities through the exploration of identity within portraiture. Confronting socio-political issues within my drawings can act as a catalyst for a discourse regarding the perception of various demographics as being of lesser humanistic value. Specifically, with the disenfranchised often being undermined by mainstream media; somewhat paradoxically reflecting an archaic hierarchy of status, similar to colonial ideologies. Using antique texts and maps as the canvases for my works enables me to pragmatically re-contextualise ephemera, creating a cohesion between the concepts informing the work and the aesthetic output. As I empower various figures; I simultaneously do so with the ground used, presenting them within new contexts. Placing myself or family members as the subjects of my portraits evokes a sense of immediacy, apropos to navigating the intersection of my western upbringing and familial west African culture. Informed by my Sierra Leonean and Lebanese heritage, I am conscious of representing figures that have historically been conspicuously omitted from traditional British portraiture. I call upon anecdotal references to portray scenes that are occasionally quasi surrealist representations; confronting lingering ethnocentrisms that are still embedded within modern western society. I employ delicate mark making techniques with precise strokes of the everyday ballpoint pen. This process is influenced by sketches from the high renaissance. I meticulously build layers of tonality leading to an element of photorealism. Through an almost contradictory process of using this relatively modern art medium with a classical approach to mark making: I look to celebrate authentic drawing within the digital age. At the core of my practice, I depict motifs that contradict largely accepted revisionist narratives apropos to West African Histories. The portraits investigate how identity can be constructed by historical oppression, with semblances of antiquated ideologies at the root of nuanced prejudices that I have personally experienced. Ultimately, my work looks to embolden individuals that feel as though they have been labelled as the ‘other’ in any manifestation. In March 2022 I was elected as a member of The Royal Society of British Artists.
Artist featured by Saatchi Art in a collection
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