“Ink is a historical tool for storytelling, and the strokes of the ball pen are to me what words are to any other storyteller,” explains Oscar Ukonu (oscarukonu), whose detailed, hyper-realistic portraits are drawn with an everyday ballpoint pen. ⁣
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“My style is a practice in time and patience,” says the Lagos-based artist, who works approximately 300 hours on a single piece. “My work celebrates the diversity in the strength and richness of the African lived experiences and realities, which in many ways has been lost to the repetitive and underrepresented concept of ‘’being Black’ in this part of the world. ⁣
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Portraying African identities in my work is also an attempt to empower Black people in diaspora and shine light on the diverse ways of knowing and being for Black people in general.” ⁣
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Art and Video by oscarukonu