‘part of me’ art by Angela Chilufya

Friday 31st January 6-9. Open on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd February 11 till 5 and thereafter by arrangement till Friday 28th February Free

‘part of me’ is an exhibition that centers around intimacy, relationships, connections and identity
related themes which are the soul focus of the artists practice. Universally, intimacy and relationships
are interpreted in terms of what can be described as close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving
personal relationship with another person or persons, the idea of intimacy goes beyond the

The exhibition proposes an investigation in the relationships formed by the artists
which are believed to have formed her identity.

‘My work is largely influenced by my emotions, the relationships I have and the way I respond to the
things I hear and see on a daily basis. I am greatly inspired by people of colour, black women in
particular. Their skin, features and hair are traits that tend to take focus throughout my work. For me,
creating work that centres around black people stems from the lack of representations of people who
look like me. As I grew and learned more about the art world, I discovered artists such as Harmonia
Rosales who said that “White figures are a staple in classic art featured in major museums. They are
the ‘masters’ of the masterpieces. Why should that continue?”.After visiting museums such as the
Prado in Madrid and the Rene Sofia it became more important for me to centre my practice around
my people as there was little to no representation of black people in paintings.
All of my artworks are developed by using a wide range of mediums. Everything from pen, pencil and
acrylic paint to chalk pastels. I like to use quick strokes to create lines that mimic facial contours with
pieces that I create using pencil or pen and much smoother longer strokes when working with oil
paints. The choice to paint in blue was initially inspired by a quote from Moonlight, a coming of age
movie about a young black man embarking on a journey to manhood who is guided by the kindness,
support and love of the community that helps raise him. The quote reads, “In moonlight, Black boys
look blue”. This quote inspired me to create portraits that are drowning or surrounded by darkness
which represents black culture dying or being washed away due to the way people of colour are
expected to conduct themselves in western society.’