Rising Stars: Francis Jeremiah Oshogwe

Do you know Francis Jeremiah? The Nigerian artist uses leaves and other organic elements to construct his portrait paintings of the female figure in cool and earthy tones. He’s another of Fola Harold’s picks, who’ll interview Francis on April 30th in an Instagram live session. Find out more.

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In conversation with Sheena Williams or how to be a well of creativity

Mixing her Black and Asian identities in a multi-hyphenate cereal of sculpture, digital art, wood stain and animation, U.S artist SheWill 별초롱 colors outside of intersectional lines with pieces that celebrate the many layers of her identity and express complexities of consciousness through a lens of social awareness. Having recently been made aware that her mother had disowned her a long time ago, her current work “Treatise on the Absence of a Mother” is a celebration of all the phases of her relationship with the concept of “mother” even in her absence.

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Rising Stars: Daniel Atenyi

Wandaalo Atenyi Daniel is a 25 year old Ugandan born artist that uses charcoal on paper to create surrealist portraiture. Daniel uses extravagant contrasts and assertive forms that create counternarratives in response to the visual representations of the spiritual form through histories. In today’s “Rising Stars”, we show a selection of 4 of Daniel’s most precious works.

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In Conversation with Adeife Adeniran

The main subject in Adeife Adeniran’s paintings is “Box Head”, a character he created to embody loneliness. The main subject in Adeife Adeniran’s paintings is “Box Head”, a character he created to embody loneliness. According to the Lagos-based painter, the world holds a large population of people who are lonelier than ever before (partly due to Social Media and networking), “boxing” their emotions within and putting on a façade of numbness. In our interview with Adeife, he told us more about “Box Head”, the feeling of loneliness & how art can be a tool to deal with it, and the art scene in Nigeria.

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Rising Stars: Quel Hynson

Intrigued by the intersectionality of culture and tradition and naturally drawn to art, Texas artist Quel Hynson looks for ways to blend multiple form of art together in her proejcts. In today’s “Rising Stars”, we showcase 5 of her most interesting drawings.

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Artist Talk with Nadia Wamunyu

At the age of eight, after partially losing her hearing ability, Kenyan contemporary visual artist Nadia Wamunyu realized she could record memories, experiences, tastes and feelings through drawing. At the age of eight, after partially losing her hearing ability, Kenyan contemporary visual artist Nadia Wamunyu realized she could record memories, experiences, tastes and feelings through drawing. Having made a name for herself in the Kanyan art scene over the past several years, she’s proud do keep her day job as it allows her to be unapologetic with her art, and to draw and paint what other people may call apocalyptic, depressing, or saddening.

In our interview with Nadia, she told us more about the Kenyan art scene, the distinctive portraits of female figures that she’s been creating with coffee in the recent years, and why she prefers to keep her day job than to bend to people’s expectations of her art.

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Releasing Grief through Golden Tears: in Conversation with Courtney Minor

Most known for collage portraits and typographic mixed media styles of collage on canvas, visual artist Courtney Minor wants to expand the definition of what “collage” means, loving to create multiple styles of collages and playing with different materials. In our interview with Courtney, we talked with her about her creative process, the difficulty of being put in a box by art galleries & institutions and her most recent work, the “Blue Series”.

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All Eyes On: Cydney M. Lewis

Working through drawing, sculpture and installation, Chicago based artist Cydney M Lewis considers the intersection of the natural, spiritual, and physical worlds that reflect on our consumer society, being influenced by waste in the streets of her community.

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Rising Stars: Seck

Visual artist and filmmaker seck. amplifies the Black experience through a decolonized lens with technical background background as a cinematographer, photographer, and editor.

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9 questions with Ethel Aanyu

Ugandan artist Ethel Aanyu uses digital layering techniques of positive and negative black & white images to create intriguing artworks that she likes to describe as “visual self reflections”. We talked with Ethel talked about the performative process involved in her work, self-reflection & growth, and her interest in the human condition

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Rising Stars: Shani Zuberi

Sacramento based visual artist Shani Zuberi, has been undressing classical art pieces since 2019 and replacing them with her own features, incorporating her love of storytelling and searching through archives into her artistic aesthetic. Discover her distinctive pieces in today’s “Rising Stars”.

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Rising Stars: Anu Oro

Working with acrylic paints & mediums, New Jersery-based artist Anu Oro creates artwork that is deeply inspired by alignment, introspection, & identity. Learn more about Anu’s work in today’s take on “Rising Stars”, and dive into her world of gold accents, bold linework & a contrasting monochromatic palette.

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Rising Stars: Noreen Smith ‘Justis’

Baltimore based artist Noreen Smith “Justis” discovered her love for making while observing the women in her family create out of necessity & for the sake of making something beautiful. In today’s “Rising Stars” feature, we showcase Noreen’s series “Heroes & Villains” that explores the intersectionality of gender and racial inequality of the feminist art movement of the 1970’s.

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9 questions with Olivia Babel

Multicultural French artist Olivia Babel works around the question of territory and cartography, creating unique mural sculptures with textile materials and handweaving techniques. With Suboart Magazine, Olivia talked about her creative process, her beginnings in fiber art with her grandmother, and her recent exhibition in Abu Dhabi.

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Raising awareness through art activism: Athenkosi Kwinana

Through her large scale self portraits, South African art activist Athenkosi Kwinana aspires to deepen the understanding of Albinism in her native country, and to reimagine the representation of Albinism in its black communities and abroad. We talked with Kwinana about her beginnings in the arts, the joy of self-portraiture & what it means to be an art activist.

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Rising Stars: Rechel Rodham Oppong

Ghanaian artist Rechel Oppong portrays the various facial expressions that define a human character with vibrant colours & a perfectionated technique that makes it easy to confuse her acrylic paintings with digital works at first glance. Learn more in today’s edition of “Rising Stars”.

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All Eyes On: Jae Capo

Under his moto “If paint sticks to it, I will paint it”, Cleveland based expressionist artist Jae Capo paints whatever moves him: a song or a a conversation can be enough to evoke his vibrant and powerful works. Honoured to have him, we’re showcasing some of his most intriguing works in today’s “All Eyes On”.

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Rising Stars: Jayeola Joshua

Social Lifestyle, customs, cultural values and self-identity are the key words in Joshua Jayeola’s work, Nigerian painter based in Lagos. As our today’s “Rising Star”, he shares 3 of his most intriguing works with us.

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Rising Stars: Zainab Oluwadamilola Ajala

Through her colourful paintings, Nigerian painter Zainab Ajala aims to educate and sensitize society about the need to live in a clean environment. See more of her work in today’s feature of “Rising Stars”.

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All Eyes On: Chibuike Ifedilichukwu

Growing up with his grandmother in the community, the Nigerian artist Chibuike Ifedilichukwu witnessed her eco-friendliness and strong belief in the Igbo philosophy “Live and let live” (egbe belu, ugo ebelu). Inspired to see nothing as waste, he has become one of Nigeria’s most interesting environmental artists.

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