Beyond The Canvas: Summer 2021 Edition

Laura Tolen

Laura Tolen is a French and Cameroonian artist who grew up in Douala (Cameroon) before joining the Beaux-Arts of Paris school from which she graduated in 2020. Drawing on the drastic change of environment from Cameroon to Paris and physical distance from family members, her works explore the transmission memory and the role it plays in intergenerational relationships within the family. She recently started a new series of oil paintings exploring mundane moments through a different lens.

Simon Ojeaga

Simon Ojeaga is a figurative artist born in Edo and based in Ogun, Nigeria. He graduated from the school of Art and Industrial Design, Auchi Polytechnic in 2019 with a HND in painting. After his educational degree, he completed a five weeks residency at OYASAF Foundation established by Prince Yemisi Shyllon. His works are characterised by repetitive and rhythmic lines which form the subjects and background in his paintings. The artist engages his practice to study the human body and express its sensuality. Viewers are invited to recognise sensuality as a powerful life force and harness it as a deeper connection to greater confidence and creativity.

Stephanie Chioma Nnabuenyi is a self-taught multimedia artist working across painting and mirror etching. She graduated from the University of Lagos with a BSc. in Marine Biology. According to the artist, ‘art is a tool of expression’ — the one place where she truly lets her ‘heart speak’. Influenced by personal experiences and narratives of feeling isolated, she explores themes of self discovery through self-depicted female characters. The artist aims to use her work to address societal constructs and marginalisation of women.

Stephanie Chioma Nnabuenyi