VIEW IN MY ROOM
United Kingdom
Drawing, Graphite on Paper
Size: 11.8 W x 16.5 H x 0 D in
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This self-portrait depicts the romanticised notion of the archetypal artist plagued with the ‘affliction’ of an apparently innate desire to pursue art. With the macabre image of a pencil penetrating the subject’s head, I look to convey the inner turmoil experienced during the tumultuous journey of becoming an artist. The pages from the 1940s text Questions Of Our Day provide a direct means of contextualising the motifs surrounding this pursuit of career as a fulltime artist that I have chosen to devote my life to. This portrait shows a sense of vulnerability that is traditionally hidden in the presentation of young British men of African descent, such as myself. I hope that it can enable a discourse apropos to mental health to continue. This work was awarded 'The Young Artist Prize' at The Drawing Society 2021 exhibition at the Mall Galleries.
Drawing:Graphite on Paper
Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork
Size:11.8 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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