Nataal catches up with the rising star at ART X Lagos 2019 to discuss her delight-inducing paintings

Tell us a little about your upbringing.
Living in Dagenham as a child was pretty idyllic. I remember playing outside with the children on my road and being surrounded by family, who would visit from Nigeria and stay with us for weeks at a time. We always had a full house. I wasn’t really into art at this time. I was more into reading and was getting through books very quickly.

How did first discovered your interest in art?
At secondary school I began to enjoy art as a subject, as well as textiles and woodwork, and realised I was good with using my hands. I began going to galleries and learning about artists like Picasso, Manet, Monet and Van Gough, and then Peter Paul Rubens and El Greco.

Who were your early role models and why?
I loved the way Lucien Freud captured human flesh and his relationships with people. I still think his works are amazing. He was my introduction to contemporary painting and I learnt how to paint by doing copies of his work. I discovered Jenny Saville around the time as Freud and thought her paintings were magnificent. I was a bit obsessed with her because she was more or less the first woman painter I knew about.

How were your university studies?
My studies in Newcastle were good. I learnt a lot and had freedom to take risks and experiment. But existing in such a white space was hard, so I found art school to be both a great and painful experience.

When and why did you reach for your family’s photograph album for inspiration?
That was a direct response to writing my thesis on the British black artists of the 1980s and realising that they painted their families, friends and homes. I made a decision to depict the black figure and the closest thing I could access whilst in Newcastle was a photo album from home. That’s been my source material for the last two and a half years.

Why was it important to you to depict the intimate scenes you found in these photos?
I just wanted to paint black figures in the every day, which expanded to chilled moments at home, parties and celebrations. Some of the 1980s artists I looked at made very political works because that’s what spoke to them. Whilst important, that wasn’t my truth; I wanted to make work that was genuine to me. It was also because when I was going to exhibitions across the UK, those were the kind of paintings that I felt were missing - fun, lively, colourful images. Since that point though, I’ve seen a lot more.

What does your current work say about your ideas around your identity and culture?
I think all I’m trying to say is that we, as in black people, or more specifically Black-British people, do have a place. There’s this thing a lot of people from the diaspora have about maybe being in between worlds and I guess that’s what I’m working with.

How does your family feel about being immortalised in your work?
They feel great. They are proud and happy and also because they are not particularly arty themselves, it’s a nice introduction into the world of painting for them.

What is the thread that ties together the works in the Baltic together?
In simple terms, they are all paintings of black figures in various situations. The paintings are made with a combination of found imagery and family photo albums. I think colour, motifs and repeated imagery are what tie these works together. Whilst making them I was seeing it as the point where painting meets source material. By having the structure and composition of the works figured out, and a confidence in my work that I haven’t felt before, I was able to really focus on how far I can push paint as a medium.

How do you hope your paintings resonate at ART X Lagos?
I guess some elements within the works resonate as very Nigerian and feel familiar and therefore are more widely relatable to the viewer. Maybe there’s a feeling of coming home. However when I hear viewers discuss my work they take away different things, sometimes focusing on clothing, colour, familial relationships...

Can you tell us about one of the works you’ve showed?
There is a mixed media piece done in acrylic and oil pastel. It was something I did to get more comfortable with drawing, in the hope that my paintings will maybe have that quality. This piece was also my introduction to using found imagery.

You call Brixton home today. What do you find inspiring about this part of south London?
It’s the mix of people, the variety in cultures displayed in the market and restaurants, and how people express themselves through how they dress. The area is lively with buskers and preachers walking down the street I find that there’s never a dull moment. Gentrification is happening but I still feel that Brixton has something authentic about it that isn’t found in other areas of London.

How do you hope to develop your practice in future?
It’s been a very intense year for me so I’m taking time at the moment to just be, see shows and be present collecting images for my next body of work. I have no idea what these will look like. Working from images is something that my work relies on but using family photographs have come to an end so the subject matter will change. It’s hard to say what’s next, but it’s exciting.