“People and stories are ultimately what influences my work, this is why I often describe my practice as visual narration. A lot of the work I make is also deeply personal and stems from my family history, particularly my Fathers upbringing our Ghanaian heritage. My ongoing body of work “I have more souls than one” is named after Fernando Pessoa’s collection of poems.

This series seeks to explore transcultural and African Diasporic experiences in the Western world and how this is felt through the different generations of family.  This project stemmed from my most recent journey back to Ghana with my cousin at the start of 2022. This trip represented somewhat of a passing of the torch as my cousin was expected to take on more responsibilities within the family. This brought into focus many questions about our relationship and connection to Ghana as members of the African Diaspora.

Despite growing up with many Ghanaian cultural influences within our lives, unlike our parents and those before, we have not grown up there and do not fully understand the language. This has led to a feeling of slight disconnection from our heritage, felt most notably whenever we return.

Through a series of recorded interviews with each sitter and their family “I have more souls than one” aims to use Stuart Halls Language, Identity theory as a lens to explore languages impact on the formation of cultural identity and our ability/inability to connect to our heritage as members of the diaspora in the UK.

Alongside this, the work also plays on ideas of “Genetic Memory” in relation to environments and ancestral histories. Each paintings background involves a layering technique with the use of photo transfers as a means of embedding the subjects personal photo archives into the paintings.

Through the use of translucent and semi translucent glazes of oil paint, these photo transfers are then obscured to different degrees depending on their significance or the clarity of memory.

Thus the environments within each painting act as fluid spaces containing archival memories and stories from the past and present. A representation of all the generations, time periods, places and memories that have informed our past, and which will continue to influence our future. (Sankofa)”