Artist Highlight #1 : Tschabalala Self

Welcome to AGENTS of CHANGE first artist highlight!

Introducing Harlem-born artist Tschabalala Self who specialises in mixed media and employs a distinct use of figurative painting. Her work is centred around the exaggeration of the physical characteristics of the black female body, in order to amplify the subconscious stereotypes and myths which exist around the black female form. In exploring the intersection of race, gender and sexuality, Self quotes that ‘collective fantasies surround the Black body, and have created a cultural niche in which exists our contemporary understanding of Black femininity. My practice is dedicated to naming this phenomenon’. Her use of distinct fabrics and textures reflect upon collective stories from African diaspora communities in Harlem New York, and explores figuration of bodies through a strong emphasis on form and outline. Urban life is a centralised focus throughout Tschabalala Self’s practice, as was visible from her solo exhibition this year at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, titled ‘Out of Body’.