Beauty and Morality
My series 'Beauty and Morality' challenges the gaze cast on women by White European artists such as Matisse. By subverting traditional notions of beauty and morality, these works seek to disrupt the male gaze and offer a more nuanced perspective on female identity.
Belle of Senegal
'Belle of Senegal' explores how the Mulatto French-African women of the Island of Gorée and the city of Saint Louis in French Senegal negotiated their identity in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Black and Proud
'Black and Proud' series celebrates West African heritage and culture and challenges the viewer to consider racial inequality by imbuing an air of power, regality and pride in the sitter.
Black Victoria
This focuses on Black cultural identity in the Victorian era. Here, the women appear confident, their gaze remarkedly self-contained. Closely related to my ‘Signares’ and the ‘Belle of Senegal’ series.
Body of Power
In ‘Body of Power’, the body at once becomes a contested site and a weapon of resistance to challenge the status quo. All through history, the body as a theme has always been explored.
Eko
My ‘Eko’ series depicts men and women in various colourful attire and explores the role they play as the life of the party in Lagos society. Here, society women are seen wearing expensive clothing and adorning elaborate headpieces (gele).
Ghosts of Tradition: Legacies of the Future
My series ‘Ghosts of Tradition: Legacies of the Future’ seeks to challenge the dominant narratives in art history by highlighting the influence of African art on Western modernism.
Onitsha Masquerade Pantheon
In tribute to my father, my incursion into the metaphysical is based on contemporary interpretations of traditional African dance and the Onitsha-Igbo masquerade pantheon, Mmonwu. Two dominant strains characterise the masquerades; the graceful female Agbogho-mmuo and the more aggressive male Ogolo.
Politics of Representation
Western media has consistently misrepresented or underrepresented African people and cultures. This series focuses on elevating Black culture and engages with works that portray multiple viewpoints from mostly the African woman, emerging from postcolonial struggles to redefine and counter cultural misrepresentations.
Portraits
Portraiture plays a huge part in my oeuvre. I address the near absence of Black personages in accounts of Western art history by adapting 16th century Old Masters’ modes of representation and techniques of painting as well as classical poses depicted in stylish, colourful attires that imbue an air of power, regality and pride in the sitter.
Ronke Portraits
I chose to re-enact the Tutu series, similar to my father's, to continue his legacy. By featuring Olori Aderonke Ogunwusi, I am not only paying tribute to her lineage but also highlighting the importance of tradition and history in contemporary art.
Signares
The celebration of the Signares lends weight to arguments that historically, women have also occupied a pride of place in African society. The series engages present-day women of Senegal, chronicling their increasing hybridity that absorbs and transforms global fashion trends yet retains the best aspects of their culture.
Spirit in Ascent
'Spirit in Ascent' is my take on 'Anyanwu' in tribute to my father. The female figure, which can be seen rising up into the clouds is the powerful Igbo earth goddess Ani. Here, womanhood is symbolic of liberty, strength and elegance, all qualities that Africa must aspire to.
