Art is life.
Art is provocative.Art is food for the soul.
Art make you dreams.
Art stir your emotions.
Art can make you see a different vision of the world, a world with more honesty.
What you looking for in art? Beauty? Harmony? The message the art is trying to convey?
Art is wonderful and can be expressed in different forms: architecture, cinema, literature, music, painting, performing, sculpture.
In this artist spotlight, I have asked artists to choose their favourite painting and tell us the story behind it.
Sidi Diabaté
https://www.instagram.com/sidi_diabate_peintre
The message of this painting is "Stop covid".
In my work I tend to paint the image of strength and unity and portray children.
I find children’s gaze, innocence, and love very inspiring.
To live with children is to live in a paradise on earth.
Boubacar Baba Tandina
https://twitter.com/tunisart
This painting is about
initiation,
Why initiation? We live in digital generation
where the youth nowadays are too attached to entertainment, smart etc ... until
the point that they forget that they are the future of their nation ... hence I
was inspired to create this painting “The reader” ... !!!
Young people are no longer interested in reading,
and this is my way to sensitize them
The 1st artwork, where you see a child giving water to drink to another child from a jelly can, is inspired by a proverb.
The 2nd artwork features a child almost covering his face with his hand, making time for self-reflection.
It is about the misconception we tend to have, about others. We tend to think that others are leading a better life than us, others seem to excel at everything; while actually under the surface everything is far from perfect, and everybody have their own struggle.
They say the grass is greener on the other side until you go on the other side and realise that the grass is greener only where you water it.
This is my favourite piece because I wanted to portray a story behind my drawing by having a more abstract approach.
This is almost a way to make more people aware of hidden depression in an individual.
https://twitter.com/bamaintrovert
This painting is a favorite of mine because I became a big fan of the show “Pose” after initially not wanting to watch it.
After seeing followers on my Twitter timeline talking about it I decided to watch & was hooked within 5 mins of the 1st episodes. I instantly fell in love with character Blanca.
The show really gave me an insight of what Trans ppl have had to endure & overcome. So, this is a tribute to the actress Michaela Jae Rodriguez that portrays her. It didn’t come out looking exactly like her because I just recently in the past 2 years made the decision to try doing more realistic type paintings. I did enjoy the process & the outcome regardless.
This painting celebrates the beauty of women, the face or body (nakedness) of a woman doesn't determine her beauty.
Nico Phooko
The title: Isandlwana.
Mixed media on wood.
It is inspired by the battle of Isandlwana on 22
January 1879. The first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the
British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. The deep colourful earthy geometrics
around the picture plain represents the genuineness, diversity, and strength of
the Zulu nation with the collaged cow shield in the centre signifying
protection against the state-of-the-art armed British troops. The clash was an
awesome triumph for the Zulus and caused the defeat of the first British
invasion of Zululand. The resistance of western standards and influence will be
forever registered in the history of this battle.
Lelo Dassie
https://twitter.com/lelo_
I chose the attached charcoal drawing.
The artwork aims to celebrate the lives of
the two gentlemen named Bob Mabena and Eddie Zondi who both passed away. I
thought it will be fitting to commemorate what they stood for. The drawing is
depicting them in a radio station where they used to work and give us great
music to listen to. The artwork challenged me as an artist in terms of the
tonality. The work makes use of lighter to darker tones to bring the charcoal
drawing to life. My aim as an artist is to bring joy and Happiness into
people's lives. I always strive to create work that evoke emotions and hoping
that my personal thoughts are communicated as well.
https://www.instagram.com/artisself
I love the texture and the differences of the colors in the color palette. It was my first time successfully using plaster on a big piece, a 22 x 24. When I started, I was very intimidated by the size of the piece, and I was unfamiliar with using plaster. I was using it without measuring the combination between water, plaster, and paint. I hated it at first. I was like this is so ugly and I don’t know how this is going to come out. I continued and one day it all came to an end, I loved it! At the time I worked at an art studio, I was in my last year of high school and it was the summer before I went to art school. I was remote and that was my first time working alone. I tended to always bug my mentors for their approval and opinions for guidance. This was important to me because I had to learn to trust myself. That taught me to follow my intuition and to believe in myself. I finally dropped it off at the studio and people loved it. That was a pivotal point in my art career because I was finally stepping into myself. I finally started to see myself as an artist and believe that I was an artist.
Eli Waduba
It is a piece in a series titled fragile.
I come
from a place where women are being considered as sex tools and objects that can
easily be replaced but in reality, women are more than sex tool and they are
fragile so they should be handle with optimum care.
Teodora Dumitrache
https://www.instagram.com/teodorapauladumitrache
I am inspired by the harmonious complexity of the woman because somewhere between the idea and the pencil, among the thoughts and experiences, there is another world.
I propose a thrust of pure shades, a decryption of the message behind the more exclusive’s experiences.
Tae Ham
https://www.taeham.com
I started creating “The Future Is Ancient” during the Black Lives Matter
protest of 2020.
It was a very tense time for our nation.
I wanted to create a
piece that not only inspired black people to continue fighting for justice but that
would inspire future generations to continue to strive for black liberation.
For more information about one of artist's work please click on the link located
just underneath the artist’s name.
