Protect and survive …
The Nigeria-born, Antwerp-based artist Otobong Nkanga’s work explores our rocky relationship with the natural world. In this 2018 drawing, the figure’s purpose is ambiguous. Is her many-armed woman clutching broken pieces of earth to her chest to protect the damaged landscape? Or is this jigsaw of terra firma a shield?
Stitched up …
The prosthetic limbs might be needles to stitch the pieces of the puzzle together again. Equally, they could be drills or weapons.
Glam rock …
The exploitation of Africa’s natural resources, including the rapacious mining of minerals like the crystalline shards this figure stands on, ranks high in her concerns.
Identity crisis …
With her clutch of multicoloured fragments, this woman’s identity is a patchwork. In terms of place, culture and fashion, she’s been disassembled and remade.
Only connect …
Yet this drawing suggests a fundamental connection to landscape and the universe: one leg is a tree, rooted in the earth; planets pull her strings.
Included in Hand Drawn Action Packed, Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow, to 2 June
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