Book now
Making Stories Telling Tales
Artist's Biography: Flo Awolaja
Growing up in a household rich in colour has always been the basis of my artistic intention. Born to parents of Nigerian heritage, Olapéju and Ayoola Awolaja, the culture into which I was born has inspired my artistic talents. Under the guidance of my school Art teachers, my influences have been many; African fabrics [my mum’s own collection of African cloths], painters, designers, textile artists and photographers;
Artists such as Edward Hopper, Egon Schiele, Modigliani, and Pierre Bonnard, to name a few, as well as contemporary Nigerian and African American artists; like Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye, Abdoulaye Konaté, Peju Alatise, Victoria Udonian, Hayden Palmer, William H Johnson, Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden et al. have been and continue to be inspiring to me.
Further education continued at Hull School of Art and Design, The Royal College of Art, where being taught by luminaries such as Derek Birdsall, and Margaret Calvert, further developed and honed my artistic skills. I am a Writer, Poet and Photographer; who continues to take delight in all visual pleasures which stimulate the senses.
A change in direction from graphic design to teaching beckoned, but I have
never forgotten my early influences. This new direction in Printmaking is testament
to my artistic and cultural eclectisim. Inspired by the Printmakers of Howard Hodgkinson, Gerhart Richter, Gillian Ayres, Joan Mitchell, and Cy Twomly. I continue to follow a tradition of visual stimuli of the abstract.
Here now [2015/16] additional new ‘Paintings’, continue to explore the theme of ‘Narrative’ within printmaking, with the use of African textiles, following on from the ‘Linia’ Exhibition in 2009. Employing material predominately native to Ghana, namely batik woven and dyed cloths which are collaged together. My use of fabrics creates abstract compositions, that hark back to West-African traditions of using textiles as a means of commemoration and communication, taking them and placing them in a contemporary setting.
It is interesting how the idea of ‘Narrative’ can be explored through a range of media, techniques and processes to tell a story that does not need words.
Enthused with a rich sense of colour and rhythm, these works serve to remind us that the idea of Narrative, of Stories, of Telling Tales’ is not always verbal.