Join us for First Fridays as we celebrate the art of Uzo Njoku, whose work will be on display up on the mezzanine for the month of September. This event is free and open to the public.
Uzo Njoku is a visual artist working with oil paint, acrylic, and elements of collage. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and moved to the United States at the age of 7. As a student at the University of Virginia, she is working towards her BA in studio art and preparing for graduate school.
Uzo’s work is primarily vivid, large-scale paintings that picture Black women with a combination of elements or shapes repeated in a recurring and regular arrangement in the background. The use of Ankara patterns (very detailed and vivid fabrics common in West Africa) is a vital component of her art. According to All Things Ankara, “Ankara print fabrics are made through an Indonesian wax-resistant dyeing technique called batik. This technique employs methods to ‘resist’ the dye from reaching the entire the cloth, thereby creating a pattern.” To the artist, the use of Ankara fabrics symbolizes tradition and high-quality fashion in West Africa. She incorporates the fabric by physically weaving the patterns, utilizing a painting method that is more universally practiced. For more details, visit uzoart.com.