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Breath of Life and The Volcano were born out of a series of paintings that reclaim and recontextualize Nigerian and afro-diasporic traditions amongst contemporary African art, queer lqqks, and imaginative realism. Both Breath of Life and The Volcano take these more expansive themes and cast them within the specific experiences of Igbokwe’s life today, diving into the cosmologies of personal narrative and reverberations of one’s own mythology. The ethereal figure within Breath of Life harkens to the creation story of Obatala, where the fanning of dust activates life with the expression of gender fluidity and joy. In The Volcano a singular figure rises from the ashes of pervasive systemic violence with an anchored rage of resilient power. Both portraits confidently beckon a gaze towards a future horizon.”
— Vancouver Art Gallery / Co-Curator Jenn Jackson