ARTIST STATEMENT

I was born in London, United Kingdom in 1978 to an English mother and Ghanaian father.

Surrounded by my European/British culture with exposure to my rich African heritage. 

Through my mum (England) the seemingly calmer and quieter British way, ‘very English’ reserved yet loving and characteristically witty. Through my dad (Ghana) the warm, bright, loud, vibrant colors of Africa filtered through; with the people equally so. 

My art is a reflection of my two worlds merging and an understanding of my own European-African identity. My English-Ghanaian worlds with differing cultures yet same values. I’m a story of where our worlds differ, merge and collide.

Being mixed race and growing up in London surrounded by different people and backgrounds, travel (and living in New York and now Boston, USA) has paved the way for my obsession with faces of all kinds. 

In a cosmopolitan and internationally diverse city, one can see how mixing two seemingly different faces can produce someone quite unique, intriguing and beautiful.

This early exposure to other nationalities, social classes, religions and orientations and their associated cultures, traditions, behaviors and tastes; have been a major source of my inspiration. 

These influential observations and experiences emerge from my mind as Art, exploring what I see and even as what I cannot see but a reflection of the feelings they’ve conjured up. They are portrayed within in my work as faces and abstracts.

My art is hand drawn on my iPad and captures faces, abstract in nature, interjected with intricate and unusual shapes I feel compelled to create, the details of the lashes, lips, eyes etc. The shapes are more important to me than how realistic the overall piece looks. A symphony of all the things I feel can fit together to create a unique and original work of art.

⎯ Cerina