Identities in Portrait by Omoayo Osoba

Nigerian painter, Omoayo Osoba George, answers this question: ‘What does an African look like?’.

He presents us with an myriad of identities; each portrait features people with different shades of dark skin, and hair & style as diverse as you can imagine. But a thread of ‘Blackness’ ties them together, manifested by the exaggerated lips and eyes which are unique to Omoayo’s style.

As you look on each portrait, you also sense how confident they are in their Blackness and in where they are in life. It pours off the canvas.

While Omoayo primarily uses acrylic and polymer on canvas, we’ve featured here his watercolour series. It gives a lighter and more casual feel, but the intensity in each gaze remains the same.

See his watercolour on paper below.

Find out more about Omoayo’s work on Artsy.