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Osi AuduSelf Portrait after Head of Pangwe Figure , 2018Acylic on canvas22 x 31 in
55.9 x 78.7 cmOsi Audu, Self Portrait after Head of Pangwe Figure , 2018$ 9,000.00 -
Osi AuduSelf-Portrait after Dogon Bird Mask II, 2018Pastel and graphite on paper mounted on canvas15 x 22 in
38.1 x 55.9 cmOsi Audu, Self-Portrait after Dogon Bird Mask II, 2018$ 6,350.00 -
Osi AuduSelf-Portrait after Dogon Bird Mask, 2017-2021Pastel and graphite on paper mounted on canvas54 x 72 in
137.2 x 182.9 cmOsi Audu, Self-Portrait after Dogon Bird Mask, 2017-2021$ 23,000.00 -
Osi AuduSelf Portrait, after Head of a Shango Staff, 2017Pastel and graphite on paper mounted on canvas56 x 95 in
142.2 x 241.3 cmOsi Audu, Self Portrait, after Head of a Shango Staff, 2017$ 30,000.00 -
Osi AuduSelf Portrait, Untitled Head, 2017Pastel and graphite on paper mounted on canvas48 x 58 in
121.9 x 147.3 cmOsi Audu, Self Portrait, Untitled Head, 2017$ 17,000.00 -
Osi AuduSelf Portrait II, 2015Pastel and graphite on paper mounted on canvas56 1/2 x 76 1/2 in
143.5 x 194.3 cmOsi Audu, Self Portrait II, 2015$ 23,000.00 -
Osi AuduI Can See Your House from Here, 2014Pastel on paper15 x 22 1/2 in
38.1 x 57.1 cmOsi Audu, I Can See Your House from Here, 2014$ 5,750.00 -
Osi AuduSelf Portrait No. 42, 2014Graphite on pastel on paper15 x 22 in
38.1 x 55.9 cmOsi Audu, Self Portrait No. 42, 2014$ 5,750.00 -
Osi AuduSelf Portrait I, 2012Pastel and graphite on paper mounted on canvas23 x 30 in
58.4 x 76.2 cmOsi Audu, Self Portrait I, 2012$ 7,700.00
THE TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE
I explore the light sheen of graphite, the matte, light absorbing quality of black pastel, the white of paper and canvas, as well as the visually affecting interactions of colors to investigate form and its evocative potential to suggest or hint at something about the shape of the head. I am interested in the dualism of form and void, and the ontological relation between the tangible and intangible, something and nothing, light and dark, body and mind, the dual nature of being - the self in portraits.
The construction of a sense of self is a very complex process, perhaps even more so in our increasingly global age, in which the boundaries between race, nationality, gender and sexuality are getting more and more blurred. I am interested in issues of self identity, and in concepts of the self rooted in my cultural experiences growing up in Nigeria, as well as global metaphysical, scientific, and social concepts of the self. There is a Yoruba thought that consciousness, referred to as the “head”, has both a physical dimension called the “outer head” and a non-physical one: “the inner head”. It is the visual implications of concepts like this that I find intriguing. The title, Self-Portrait, in my work, is more about the portrait of the intangible self, rather than a literal portrait of the artist. - OSI AUDU