My use of portraiture is informed thematically by an exploration of identity, usually ethnic identity. Most recently, my quasi surrealist drawings have been investigating the ludacrasy of learned prejudice and nuanced forms of racism in the UK. I usually call upon anecdotal references to create scenes that can, on occasion; use humour as a vehicle to delve into issues apropos to the absurdity of a distinct ethno-centricism that I have experienced. Such experiences enable me to visually articulate emotions of confusion, frustration or a feeling of indignant righteousness. These visceral human emotions resonate with all of us, perhaps now more than ever within the status quo we find ourselves.
There appears to be an ever growing fracture and separation between partisans, with the perception of various demographics as being of lesser humanistic value being propagated within a western context. As the disenfranchised are too often undermined by mainstream media; which somewhat paradoxically reflects an archaic hierarchy of status similar to colonial ideologies.
I look to question the constructs of identity. The current socio political climate has led to a hyperfocus on race relations: as well as an imperative for each of us to consider our role in modern society, as we all navigate living in this new paradigm of perpetual flux. Confronting the unknown of what lies ahead can empower us to not cower away from the chaos, rather to the contrary, embrace it and explore it.
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