The Instagram page of Nigerian artistOluwafemi Akanmu is a gallery of its own. Featuring dozens of videos of the artist putting the finishing touches on his mixed-media works, viewers get a sense of what it must be like to have such a piece sitting in their living rooms.
Diversity is misconstrued as a centrifugal, and highlighting differences–even with positive intentions–can tap fear and skepticism of others and bring it to the surface in ugly manners. How the current political climate reflects this unfortunate truth of human nature barely needs mentioning. But art has the power tooffer a different reaction to diversity–to create a harmonious depiction of human life.
Every so often, one comes across a work of art so seemingly impossible that one is forced to ask themselves: How?
I’m used to asking myself that question most often when spectating the masterpieces from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Without modern technology, Peter Paul Rubens and Caravaggio, just to name a couple, created life-sized and hyper-realistic scenes of grandiose moments in human and religious history: How? When looking at the work of Christy Lee Rogers, an American artist specializing in underwater photography, I found myself in awe for the opposite reason: How does Rogers make the results of a highly technological process feel so surreal?
Colder weather, water running through valleys and trees gracefully standing near icey lakesides– an all familiar site for fans of Bon Iver, who’s music coincide with brisk chills and the comfort of cardigans. This imagery, pictured as the cover of Bon Iver’s grammy award winning self-titled album “Bon Iver.”
In 2014, while promoting her fifth novel, Buzzfeed asked Helen Oyeyemi if she could share one of her personal superstitions. “I can recommend wearing blue mascara whilst writing,” she said. “I'm telling you, it really adds something.” Oyeyemi’s career reflects that superstition: like colored mascara, her writing is quirky and unconventional. As an author, Oyeyemi refuses to allow her words to exist within a singular genre, culture, or aesthetic.
