Marvin Mwojo
Within the space of frames, I try to build a world that is undeniably separate from the one we live in. as an artist I am fascinated by any artistic medium that pulls the viewer out of a logical and common world and places them within a space that is more alive. When I use frames of any shape, I hope that the viewer will forget that they are looking at portraits of African children and instead see an alternate reality, one that mixes drawing and painterly qualities to make surreal images. It is my goal as an artist to make not only beautiful works but create a visual culture that speaks of possibilities that society find disturbing, Taking concepts like inter-ethnic and interfaith conflict and molding it into something that suggests people living together in peace and dialogue as a means to address their indifferences.
My portraits are meant to be read and analyzed. Experimentation and self-belief are abundant in my works, for what makes an intricate story if not visuals that mean one thing but stand for another? I explore realism and abstract through blending two separate media that seem impossible to blend, Charcoal dust and Oil paint made a challenge in the final year of my university where I had to decide to leave the normal drawing media (ink, graphite, charcoal,) and embark on a path I hadn’t seen anyone do in order to stand out My intent is to create realistic yet abstracted images that are a representation of life because they contain feelings and emotions that resonate with the viewers.
Merging different media in drawing and painterly styles to make art that is a means to an end, and also to move beyond the realm of drawing and instead make paintings and alternate styles of art by visually representing the stories I have in my mind through my style, It is this painterly quality that I emulate, such as using charcoal on canvas and blend it with oil paint, until I achieve an abstracted realistic image which I think gives my work a unique touch.
