Azuka Muoh
Azuka Muoh is one of Africa’s most interesting and provoking artists. Her millennial status ensures her lens on the world is sharp, offering deep critique and reflection on life as a young female Nigerian, in a deeply complex society that embraces artistic development, whilst retaining an ever-present awareness of cultural and familial expectations. Muoh’s digitally rendered multiple composition portraits are surrealist in nature and hyperbolized reflections of personal experience and indeed societal constraints– one could also say that there is an influence into Afrofuturism, the Sci-Fi influenced African diaspora art and music movement that evolved in the 1990’s. Patriarchal oppression, political reflection and the state of the human condition are shared departure points in these intense reflections – the results are beautifully rendered digital imagery, often in easily digestible tones, but reflecting hard hitting subject matter. Muoh’s intention lies in challenging long held societal norms, in a space where tradition has reigned for centuries.
Muoh sees herself as being a powerful mouthpiece for the marginalized and in a world where oppression is rife in so many forms, from gender-based abuse and violence, to systemic patriarchal maltreatment, her portraits are a very real commentary. The fact that her work is deeply autobiographical adds another layer of significance to each piece – her relative youth is equally of interest because there is no doubt that as time tempers her life experience, so too will her art continue to intrigue and challenge the status quo. Using the language of the Instagram generation, her words “we are influencers of the thought processes of society,” feel like a sharp prediction from one of the continent’s most exciting talents.
Country: Nigeria
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