“I often approach my work as a form of quiet world-building, and in many ways, I think of it as a visual journal,” says Lawrence Meju, whose distinctive and vibrant collages draw on surrealism, on a regular basis experiences, and reminiscences.
The Lagos-based artist remembers working with paper collage throughout a few of his earliest introductions to art-making at school, nevertheless it wasn’t till 2020, on the top of the pandemic when entry to outlets and supplies was restricted, that just a little resourcefulness remodeled into a brand new approach of working.
“I found these interesting, textured papers somewhat abandoned,” Meju tells Colossal. Not essentially a cloth he would have chosen off the bat, he was nonetheless motivated to make one thing—something—throughout that point. And the problem paid off. “I made a quick portrait of myself that leaned towards abstraction, and this was what started my body of work titled Extranormal Portraits.” Extra just lately, his compositions have grow to be more and more advanced and fluid, with quite a few figures and symbolic objects like clocks, minimize flowers, and vegetation.
Meju’s items boldly discover hyperlinks between every day life, the human psyche, relationships, and notion. “I am currently engaging with themes of fragmentation, reinvention, and identity,” he says. “This engagement is also an ode to my process of creating these collages.” By simplifying the human kind and different objects into layered, textured, colourful shapes, he delves into the myriad methods reminiscences, histories, identities, and feelings overlap and inform who we’re.
“A guiding force in my work is my commitment to keeping my inner child alive, as well as the drive to create what I want to see in the world,” Meju says. “At first, carving a path outside the mainstream was uncomfortable, but leaning into that discomfort has allowed me to develop a mode of expression that feels authentic to me.”
Meju is at the moment planning some sculptural works and objects that riff on the visible language of his two-dimensional items. When you’re in London in October, discover the artist’s work at 1-54 artwork truthful, offered by Soto Gallery, and see extra on his Instagram.
