Now i wear myself

Retro Africa is pleased to present Now I Wear Myself, a solo exhibition by Jacqueline Suowari. Curated by Dolly Kola-Balogun and Ponchang Kumven, the exhibition will open on June 25th, and runs until the 31st of August at Retro Africa Gallery, Abuja, Nigeria. Featuring drawings, installations and performances, Jacqueline Suowari continues her fascination with the human form and its ability to express emotions that communicate feelings in a verbal and non verbal way. With an autobiographical effect to it, Jacqueline combines portraits, installations and performance art to create a visual experience that personifies her journey to self actualization and coming into consciousness of individual identity.

Using thousands of ballpoint strokes in a manner she describes as ‘layering’ the artist creates these portraits that are concise in presence but extensive in argument. She experiments with different actors and archetypes, portraying bodies in highly stylized fashion. Collectively the portraits, installations and performance art create this transient encounter, "like a dream we might be unable to recall exactly what happened, but are able to carry on an after sensation”.

Jacqueline Suowari makes a repository for her emotions, experiences and inspirations; a form of catharsis. She invites each visitor to immerse themselves in this congenial experience where she obscures and reveals, essentially making lines and layers a space that reveals subliminal messages about human experiences and emotions.

Jacqueline’s first solo exhibition in Nigeria, at Retro Africa is precisely to position her art as sources of inspiration, generating thus an enlightening process able to transform the ordinary world with feelings, and sensations geared towards better coexistence.