Artist statement 

My paintings and drawings are a way for me to explore the idea of having a “home” while feeling “homeless”. My earlier works were based on an investigation into the journey of African Migrants through the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea to Europe. With recent events in war torn African countries I wonder about the politics of conflict in the Sub-Saharan regions and its ripple effect and contribution towards human displacement. This focus is personal; It is an introspective conversation centered on my current status as an immigrant in the United States of America. From endless exploration of visual vocabularies, every single gesture and depiction of objects is channeled towards creating a cinematic, panoramic, immersive, and performative environment. Each element associated closely to what used to be a normal place, but is no longer recognizable. The use of visual architectural structures, forms, and recurring figures in unrecognizable spaces, while juxtaposing reinvented sceneries with deeper imagery informs the therapeutic process of almost getting to that closure that almost never exists.  

My paintings stem from the exploration of psychological spaces, forms and figurative interpretations through atmospheric scenery and color language. While my drawings look more like the swift and fine movement of an army of organized and carefree lines pushing for a settlement that only exists in my mind. At this point all that is left is just debris of fast fading memories which I try to keep alive by restlessly making paintings in fragments stitched together to illustrate a world that once existed and can only now be accessed by a few.