Being an associate artist for ONCA was a wonderful opportunity for me to have my first solo show after many years after being unable to create due to ill health.

It helped me get back to a place where I recognise myself in my work. The association with ONCA gave me an opportunity to share and evolve my artistic voice. I saw my technique develop a huge amount during my association with ONCA, having the resources, time and reason to paint every day allowed me to critically analyse my work in real time having such intense focus on only what I was creating. I feel far more confident in my abilities now. I feel hopeful about my continued growth. I feel heard that so many people responded so positively not just to the artworks themselves but the concept behind them.

Human connection is an important component of what motivates me as an artist. Having the opportunity to interview members of my local community and understand how and why they wanted to be represented in certain ways helped deepen and create new connections with my community.

I am also deeply appreciative of the opportunity to show some of our Black community of Brighton to the larger community in portraiture that the participants felt reflected themselves and their values authentically. Having spoken with all the participants after the exhibition was up, I am so happy that they were really pleased with the outcome of our collaboration, and felt seen and heard also. I hope the exhibition had the effect of  humanizing them further for the audience, to see and hear the stories of Black Brightoners in Real Life.

Additionally, being able to create a space that reflected the Black community, with the leadership, support and guidance of the brilliant Susuana Amoah gave a very personal context to the personal stories held within the exhibition. This was really a quite unique opportunity to be able to bring artefacts from our communal memories into the exhibition space. The theme we worked to present was ‘our Black grandmother’s front room’, a modern sacred space for community. Being able to highlight the importance of Black women elders for the cohesion of Black communities was touched upon in many of the interviews of the participants so the exhibition took up the whole space by way of this theme.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Nalo Solo is a visual artist, illustrator, graphic designer, writer and spoken word poet. Nalo’s work questions how to rebuild the self and surrounding community with authenticity and ethical practice whilst still stuck in regressive systems and negotiating the long term after effects of trauma on physical and mental health. Reaffirming the self whilst rejecting individualism. Nalo’s aim is to use creativity to repurpose negative experiences to uplift the marginalised and promote compassion.

Nalo studied BA Graphic Design and Illustration at Central Saint Martins, UAL, followed by MA Visual Arts, specialising in Illustration at Camberwell College, UAL.

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