Up-and-coming Black creators
by Alyssa Jaffer
Last month, we shone a spotlight on the up-and-coming Black creators you should know. With such a wealth of creative talent, zeal and craftsmanship by Black artists in the UK and Ireland, it’s time to bring you part II of this series.
Here are three Black creators on the rise that you should
know about.
From left to right: The Queen Within, Grooming and Bare, courtesy of Tessy Ehiguese
The artist: Tessy Ehiguese, Dublin, Ireland
Her craft: Creative fashion, fine art and portrait photography
Her story: “As a child, I would play with the toy camera my mum bought me. I originally come from Nigeria and I hadn’t lived with my parents for about three years of my childhood, so they enjoyed capturing every moment and printing the images. Instantly I was intrigued.”
Her masterpiece: “I absolutely love the fine art nude I recently shot [Bare]. My vision was to portray a sense of time, as the model's shape reminded me of an hourglass. I painted her entire frame red, including her hair. The model is a Black woman; for this image, I did not want the focus to be on her skin colour. I created this piece during the COVID-19 lockdown, a time when I was questioning all sorts of things myself.”
Hot take on 2020: “Growing up, I did not see a lot of people who looked like me in Irish magazines or television. I chose a nontraditional career path for a Black person in Ireland. We need more representation, and more people who look like me, working within the media in Ireland.”
Photo by @patoragraphy, models are @isthatcordell and @natasha_hanbury, courtesy of Virtue Shine
The artist: Virtue Shine, Galway, Ireland
Her craft: Sewist and designer
Her story: “I grew to love African wax prints as a child, sitting on my grandmother’s lap in her African fabric warehouse in Accra. I began creating African print fabrics accidentally, during my first pregnancy on a hot, humid New York summer day. I couldn’t find comfortable clothing, so I made my first wrap skirt from some African prints from a recent trip home to Ghana. In making that skirt, I caught the bug of making clothes myself.”
Her inspiration: “I am of course inspired by my African prints, which are an art form unto themselves with their patterns, colours and subtle messages. There is a story in every print and each print has its own name. I feel that I am creating wearable art.”
Identity and her art: “As much as people love the colours and prints, perhaps it was seen only as belonging to the African and Black community. Even though I’ve been creating with African prints for years, the prints are only now becoming more mainstream and part of world fashion.”
Offica, courtesy of the artist
The artist: Offica, Drogheda, Ireland
His craft: Rapper
His story: “I started music in 2018. I got a lot of support from the people in my town, and it motivated me to keep going and push for more success. I will keep doing music for my people.”
His inspiration: “I listen to a lot of afrobeats songs, like Komajesun by Mohbad ft. Naira Marley and Limpopo by Kcee. Them sounds have a lot of influence on my music. What inspires me most are my supporters and fans.”
His masterpiece: “A song that is special to me on my new EP is called Opor. It has a boppy flow to it, and it’s a song that makes people happy.”
offica.lnk.to/FaceReveal
@a9offica
In case you missed it, check out Part I of this spotlight series, available in last month’s issue of ALHAUS magazine. For print magazine lovers, some of these artists are featured in the new ALHAUS magazine issue no. 6 print edition, available in September 2020. You won’t be disappointed… we loved it so much, we put Tessy Ehiguese’s Bare on our cover!