From Ivory Coast, Aurélie Kadjo is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist. She created her brand Art Baobab in the middle of 2020. For her, designing is a passion and a personal process. Kadjo decided to focus her discipline around visual art (paintings and digital art). As a Black artist, she has identified with the underrepresentation of People of Color in the art industry.
To conceptualize her works, Kadjo gets inspired by photographs of personalities from around the world; known and unknown. Her creations want to highlight the realities of communities placed in a situation of inferiority by society, mostly targeting the Black community. Her works are meant to start important conversations and create safe spaces for eloquent and soulful conversations about sexism, racism, colorism, fatphobia and other social issues. She hopes to fill this void by creating a new source of art from which people like her can use to express themselves.
Art Baobab aims to uplift Black culture, its potential, colors, styles and diversity. Her art aims to highlight the lived experiences of marginalized communities and more specifically the Black community. She wants to create an increase in the representation of different parts of Black and African culture and, in the future, create a space for meaningful discussions leading to inclusion and acceptance within that community.
Essence* Printed Collection
Designing Essence* was a journey. Art is not just beautiful, it’s a language that shows and teaches people what you consider important. We live in a loud world, where everyone tends to scream at the same time. Let’s stop a second and understand what Essence* is about.
Essence* is about taking the time to learn where we come from; understanding the dynamics in which we live; how much work we have to do before society truly represents us. It’s about learning the history of our hair, our fights, our victories. It’a obit going back to the roots. It’s about understanding the place of the elders in the motherland. It’s about destroying all misconceptions around sex or genders, and fight together against injustice.
Essence is journey towards oneself.
To view more of Aurélie S. Kadjo’s work please visit their website.