THE TRAVELLERS

At a basal level, geography is the progenitor on which my creations, The Travellers, will be formed. This is reflected in my relocation from London to Lagos to Johannesburg and back to Lagos. I personified globalization and surmounted the national immigration boundaries via ownership of two passports and a work permit. This was the easiest part. What was unanticipated were the psychological boundaries, challenges and life lessons that would arise from these terrestrial shifts. 

I committed to paper all the things it meant to be an urban nomad; disconnected from your starting destination but not quite at home in new location. Each hue I chose carried a different energy and every choice was deliberate. The Travellers is a triptych representation of moving through societal, racial and cultural boundaries. The impacts of the boundaries was represented by colours, the various energies that these brought whilst the ink lines of demarcation represented the earth’s topography and the divide across continents. In this way, I hoped to convey to the viewer, the energies and emotions of The Travellers.

LAGOS

Lagos represented cultural boundaries. This boundary was a calabash, made unbreakable by its unyielding shell of generational acceptance, made hollow by the incomprehensibility of tribalism and through whose sheer utility, could the importance of personal restitution be seen. This calabash was decorative and beautiful like its proprietor city and remains so, for my spirit, to this day.

LONDON

London represented societal boundaries. This boundary was a cobweb, made soft by the government dogmas of social mobility, made malleable by the corporate policies of “diversity in the workplace” and through whose interstices of meritocracy, could the prizes of the much-lauded home ownership and a guaranteed pension be seen. Yet, this cobweb was grey like its proprietor city and remained grey due to my inability to fully assimilate with the notion of Sunday roasts, Received Pronunciation and “fancying a pint”.

JOHANNESBURG

Johannesburg represented racial boundaries. This boundary was a cuff, made rusty by the political doctrines of black empowerment, made suffocating by the ignorance of the denizens of that racial melting pot and through its very nature as a cuff, was ugly. This cuff, on a personal level, took my spirit to depths of solitude and powerlessness that I never thought were attainable for me.