Black & reflective
in-person & VIRTUAL solo Exhibition at XPACE
FEB-MAY 2021 — 303 Lansdowne Avenue, Toronto
concept
The impact of four conversations between friends or acquaintances from the African diaspora and myself, captured in an immersive oil painting installation.
As the works sequentially documented the expansion of my own understanding and complex feelings towards identity, the heart of the project became the importance of such personal exchanges in both forming and reflecting upon our own worldview – and ultimately, demonstrates the power of one conversation.
concept in Format
Each conversation is captured through both portraiture and landscape painting. Portraiture gives time for intimacy; connecting ideas of self to their relationship to Black identity, and Landscapes highlight the relationship between self-identity and how we navigate our environment.
the oil paintings
“Framing James”
A conversation with James Hewitt
Portrait of James Hewitt based on our conversation
Landscape painting of James Hewitt based on our conversation
“Like Oil & Water”
A conversation with Nyenye
Portrait of Nyenye based on our conversation
Landscape painting of Nyenye based on our conversation
Miss me with that bullish
A conversation with Quel
A triptych combining both landscape and portrait painting of Quel based on our conversation
“Am I Still Me”?
A conversation with Timothy
The portrait of Tim based on our conversation
The landscape painting of Tim based on our conversation
Installation DETAIls
virtual art exhibition
View the website created to accompany the physical install
with written and visual process documentation
