Sekere play
Sekere is an African musical instrument made with a Gourd and beads, it is with a great percussive character and popular in Nigeria ( the land of my birth)
The figure occupies a vertical, stage-like plane that pulls the viewer’s eye from the rounded vessel upward through flowing garments to the face. Curving lines and concentric swirls create a circular rhythm that suggests the motion of dance and the pulse of percussion. Negative space is active, its textured fields reinforcing the impression of sound moving through air.
A warm, jewel-toned palette of reds, oranges, purples, and deep blues balances luminous highlights and shadowed passages to produce tactile depth. Layered, energetic brushstrokes alternate between broad sweeps and shorter, rhythmic marks so surface texture reads like woven cloth and reverberant sound. Color shifts act as both form and beat, turning the canvas into a visual drum.
The figure is stylized and emblematic rather than literal, reduced to gestures that emphasize movement and ritual. The large rounded vessel functions as instrument and anchor, its presence asserting both practical and symbolic weight. The partially revealed face invites projection while the body’s posture conveys the work’s emotional and performative core.
Sekere play translates music into motion and memory, treating percussion as a carrier of cultural identity and communal history. The painting frames performance as both individual expression and collective transmission, where object, gesture, and color collaborate to sustain tradition. It celebrates rhythm as lived knowledge and visualizes the joy and labor of cultural practice.
At 30 by 40 inches the work is intimate yet commanding, suited to gallery walls where viewers can step close to read brushwork and step back to feel overall rhythm. Hang at eye level with warm, even lighting to reveal layered transparencies and textured mark making. A simple, narrow frame or an exposed stretcher edge will keep focus on surface energy.
The figure occupies a vertical, stage-like plane that pulls the viewer’s eye from the rounded vessel upward through flowing garments to the face. Curving lines and concentric swirls create a circular rhythm that suggests the motion of dance and the pulse of percussion. Negative space is active, its textured fields reinforcing the impression of sound moving through air.
A warm, jewel-toned palette of reds, oranges, purples, and deep blues balances luminous highlights and shadowed passages to produce tactile depth. Layered, energetic brushstrokes alternate between broad sweeps and shorter, rhythmic marks so surface texture reads like woven cloth and reverberant sound. Color shifts act as both form and beat, turning the canvas into a visual drum.
The figure is stylized and emblematic rather than literal, reduced to gestures that emphasize movement and ritual. The large rounded vessel functions as instrument and anchor, its presence asserting both practical and symbolic weight. The partially revealed face invites projection while the body’s posture conveys the work’s emotional and performative core.
Sekere play translates music into motion and memory, treating percussion as a carrier of cultural identity and communal history. The painting frames performance as both individual expression and collective transmission, where object, gesture, and color collaborate to sustain tradition. It celebrates rhythm as lived knowledge and visualizes the joy and labor of cultural practice.
At 30 by 40 inches the work is intimate yet commanding, suited to gallery walls where viewers can step close to read brushwork and step back to feel overall rhythm. Hang at eye level with warm, even lighting to reveal layered transparencies and textured mark making. A simple, narrow frame or an exposed stretcher edge will keep focus on surface energy.