Tomisin Egbonwon | Contemporary Painter

Recent projects have been a set of paintings in a series named “objects of nature”, and a physical collage commissioned for the permanent archives of the Centre for Contemporary Art in Nigeria. Through these projects, she researched the roles of divination tools and everyday objects within Yoruba Anthropology and several other cultures across the African continent. In future works, you can expect her work to be grounded in Black mythologies, Yoruba Anthropology, and material research. She posits that the choice of clay, wood, and copper, the carving, mining, and soldering of these primordial yet earthly materials molded the spiritual essence of the Yoruba people across the world from Nigeria to Benin to Brazil. Consequently, these Black mythologies, are told through the characters in her paintings, who are mystics from the world but not of it. Who know this ancient knowledge, practice alchemy using it, and are the guardians of this secret, while living everyday lives authentic to their expression as sensual, earthy women. The centrifugal question in her artistic discipline then becomes, 'What is the animating force behind the mythos of Black people that is persistently evolving?' Although distinct, across ethnic groups and the diaspora, we can be certain it is deeply connected through the collective unconscious. And the answer to that question begins to show up in every single fiber of her practice, from painting to writing, collage, sculpture, and even installations.