ARTIST STATEMENT
MY ARTISTIC PRACTICE CENTERS ON THE CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MEANING AS A TOOL FOR REIMAGINING LIFE AND BELONGING ACROSS SPACE AND TIME.
WHILE EXPLORING SEPARATION AND CONNECTION AS MEDIATING COGNITIVE FACTORS OF MEANING-MAKING, MY WORK TRAVERSES FAITH, RACE, AND SELF-IDENTITY THROUGH A BLACK CULTURAL LENS. PURPOSING THE CAMERA AS A SYMBOL OF AGENCY TO VISUALIZE AFROFUTURISM, I WORLDBUILD ON CONTEMPORARY MEANING TO TRANSACT VIEWERS FROM LOOKING THROUGH TO LOOKING AT INTERGENERATIONAL PERSPECTIVES.
ARTIST BIO
MEZU OFOEGBU (B.1995) IS A NIGERIAN ARTIST-RESEARCHER BORN IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. IN HIS POST-DISCIPLINARY PRACTICE, MEZU PROVOKES THE MEANING-MAKING PROCESS TO CONSTRUCT AND DEVELOP INTERGENERATIONAL PERSPECTIVES OF LIVED EXPERIENCES. HIS ARTWORK WAS SELECTED AS A WINNER OF THE BLACK ART RISING AWARD, PRESENTED BY LIFEWTR TO RECOGNIZE ARTISTS CALLING FOR SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH THEIR WORK. ADDITIONALLY, HIS PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTISTIC DIRECTION APPEARED IN YOUTUBE’S PARTNERSHIP WITH GOOGLE ARTS AND CULTURE’S RELEASE OF BLACK RENAISSANCE HONORING BLACK CREATIVES AND POLITICAL LEGENDS WHILE HIGHLIGHTING NEW ARTISTS. MOLDED BY SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND ARTISTIC PRACTICE, HIS EXPLORATION OF CONTEMPORARY MEANING-MAKING HIGHLIGHTS THE EMERGING RENAISSANCE IN SOCIETY’S GLOBAL MEANING SYSTEM.