ARTIST SPOTLIGHT : RASTO CYPRIAN
Rasto Cyprian is a Kenyan visual artist and loved member of the Nairobi based arts and education NGO, Kobo Trust Foundation. Cyprian applies principles of pattern recognition through color and line to engage viewers in a visual critique of commodity fetishes and the capital-centerd viewing of Black bodies. Cyprian’s figurative work is distinguished by the tree-textured skin of his figures, which he often effaces. This obscuring of the face works to emphasize the commodities’ obstruction of relationships between people and critiques the racist-capitalist gaze that recognizes Black bodies only as material for capital, like the trees of the earth. These tree-lines invite viewers to regard Blackness as a continually growing and shifting concept which ought to be looked at closely again and again as it changes, also like the trees of the earth. His works are often comprised of muted earth tones contrasted with pops of color. The union of muted tones with bright colors on the canvas connect to the interplay between the natural world and manufactured objects, or commodities. Through symmetrically balancing these color palletes around the figures, he skillfully makes harmony between two opposing concepts - natural and manufactured - and assembles a visual realm where the Black body orchestrates harmony between the two.
Halo of Filth, 2023
In the final version of ‘Halo of Filth’ (shown in progress below), the mop and the locs become sacred objects symbolizing meticulous work and devotion to task. Flies form a halo above both the figure and the mop to redirect the racist logic that Black hair, and locs specifically, are dirty. Cyprian uses the mop to signify locs and the butchers knife to symbolize the violent demand of racist-capitalist traditions of employers to make Black employees chop off their natural hair. The figure stands in a red room to evoke a butchering atmosphere, while their teal gloves rest away from the knife, seeming to protest the chopping, “never again”.
Artist Instagram: Rasto Cyprian
