Navigating the challenges
Lawal Said’s Navigating the Challenges is a striking acrylic on canvas that pulses with emotional depth and kinetic energy. Measuring 30 by 48 inches, its vertical orientation draws the viewer upward—symbolically echoing the climb through adversity that the piece so powerfully evokes.
At the heart of the painting is a figure immersed in music, eyes closed, hands delicately working the strings of a guitar. The swirling brushstrokes that envelop the subject—fiery reds, luminous yellows, deep blues—create a vortex of emotion and movement. These abstract forms seem to echo both the chaos of life’s challenges and the transcendence found in creative expression. The figure’s voluminous hair blends seamlessly into the background, suggesting a fusion between self and sound, struggle and serenity.
The title, Navigating the Challenges, paired with the artist’s own reflection—“You see me jovial and happy which is all well and good. My life is easier that way because I cannot dwell on my hardship”—adds a poignant layer to the work. This is not just a celebration of music; it’s a portrait of resilience. The act of playing becomes a metaphor for survival, for channeling pain into beauty.
Said’s use of acrylic lends itself to the immediacy of emotion—bold, fast, and unapologetically expressive.
The painting doesn’t just depict a moment; it vibrates with lived experience. It’s a visual symphony of hardship transformed into harmony.
In Navigating the Challenges, Lawal Said offers more than a painting. He offers a mirror to the soul of anyone who has ever smiled through struggle, who has ever found refuge in art, and who continues to rise—note by note, stroke by stroke.
At the heart of the painting is a figure immersed in music, eyes closed, hands delicately working the strings of a guitar. The swirling brushstrokes that envelop the subject—fiery reds, luminous yellows, deep blues—create a vortex of emotion and movement. These abstract forms seem to echo both the chaos of life’s challenges and the transcendence found in creative expression. The figure’s voluminous hair blends seamlessly into the background, suggesting a fusion between self and sound, struggle and serenity.
The title, Navigating the Challenges, paired with the artist’s own reflection—“You see me jovial and happy which is all well and good. My life is easier that way because I cannot dwell on my hardship”—adds a poignant layer to the work. This is not just a celebration of music; it’s a portrait of resilience. The act of playing becomes a metaphor for survival, for channeling pain into beauty.
Said’s use of acrylic lends itself to the immediacy of emotion—bold, fast, and unapologetically expressive.
The painting doesn’t just depict a moment; it vibrates with lived experience. It’s a visual symphony of hardship transformed into harmony.
In Navigating the Challenges, Lawal Said offers more than a painting. He offers a mirror to the soul of anyone who has ever smiled through struggle, who has ever found refuge in art, and who continues to rise—note by note, stroke by stroke.