SHANTY AESTHETIC

Colour fascinates me, the way it shifts in different light conditions. The way surfaces and textures affect it. I've seen people take to colour in different ways. How one person is drawn to poppy red which to somebody else is repulsive. Colour is the most important motivation for my work. 

In "Shanty Aesthetic" I explore the idea that we are all predisposed to making design decisions irrespective of status or position. A shanty can be described as a small, badly built house, usually made from pieces of wood, metal, or cardboard, in which poor people live. They are generally built with recycled materials which still bear the original colours they were manufactured in, different sheets of coloured plywood, metal, cellophane in bright colours – red, blue, white, green, orange, pink, rust, black etc. This body of work is my attempt at capturing the beauty of the completely random aesthetic expression of the shanty dweller.

The Lagos party scene is unrivalled for its display of colour. Here, there is no random or accidental beauty. Everything is coordinated to perfection yet, the aso-ebi wearers find a way to be unique, to draw attention to their interpretation of ‘uniform’. The modern Nigerian woman uses colour as skilfully as any artist, creating shapes, highlights and shadow that previously, did not exist.

Whether executed with precision or completely accidental, colour affects how we perceive beauty. I invite you to experience colour with me.