Another Story Artist Statement
Format
Senior Art and Design Exhibition
Faculty Mentor Name
Jill Vasileff
Faculty Mentor Department
Art
Abstract/Artist Statement
For my project I want to dive into the topics of colonialism, power, and corruption and how these issues relate to the current state of Nigeria. Nigeria’s history is rich, yet dark. Being that music is also such a driving factor within any culture, I felt that it would be best to express this through a series of large paintings that incorporate elements from Nigerian musicians that have impacted the masses through their knowledge on these topics.
One of the paintings is 36 x 48 in. and is based on Burna Boy’s “Another Story” music video. This piece will be one of a series of three paintings. There are a few scenes throughout the video where there are students sitting in a classroom with black cloths wrapped around their faces. Each cloth has a different word pertaining to a socioeconomic issue on it. This scene stood out to me and I decided to take three of the faces and include those in my painting. Below the floating heads are the many small homes and buildings in a village called Agbada Owo in Nigeria. The village appears to be tranquil, but one can see that it’s also ablaze in the far mountains. In the sky there’s a road running past the closest two heads. On this road is a presidential vehicle. This represents the fact that politicians are able to travel by air, while the average Nigerian would have to walk, or take the public transportation to get around.
Location
Virtual
Start Date
25-4-2020 10:00 AM
End Date
25-4-2020 12:00 PM
Another Story Artist Statement
Virtual
For my project I want to dive into the topics of colonialism, power, and corruption and how these issues relate to the current state of Nigeria. Nigeria’s history is rich, yet dark. Being that music is also such a driving factor within any culture, I felt that it would be best to express this through a series of large paintings that incorporate elements from Nigerian musicians that have impacted the masses through their knowledge on these topics.
One of the paintings is 36 x 48 in. and is based on Burna Boy’s “Another Story” music video. This piece will be one of a series of three paintings. There are a few scenes throughout the video where there are students sitting in a classroom with black cloths wrapped around their faces. Each cloth has a different word pertaining to a socioeconomic issue on it. This scene stood out to me and I decided to take three of the faces and include those in my painting. Below the floating heads are the many small homes and buildings in a village called Agbada Owo in Nigeria. The village appears to be tranquil, but one can see that it’s also ablaze in the far mountains. In the sky there’s a road running past the closest two heads. On this road is a presidential vehicle. This represents the fact that politicians are able to travel by air, while the average Nigerian would have to walk, or take the public transportation to get around.