Albert Lubaki Elephants

A lot of people may consider this style of African ‘folk art’ primitive and unsophisticated, but to me it is the most sophisticated and aspirational art form. I have found that it is incredibly difficult to create art in a loose way, where as with time and patience most of us can become technically skillful artists, but the ability to unlearn a skill, and create with the care free hand of a child is almost impossible. This freedom is what I strive for in my art.

Congolese folk artist Albert Lubaki mastered the art of creating intuitive ‘child-like’, loose art, and in an attempt to loosen my art style, I replicated one of his paintings. This was such a great practice as I got into the flow of creating the same shapes and forms in a style that I had been aspiring towrards, it gave me a better understanding of how I can go about making more abstract and loose forms with in my art. It also made me reflect on the importance of capturing the essence of an object as opposed to painting exactly what the eye sees.