Osaretin Ighile

My art is deeply, socially conscious, drawing from the artistic heritage of my people, the Benins in Nigeria, my experiences as a black man and African immigrant in New York and my profound desire to create. After having lived in Brooklyn for many years, I've come to recognize we all have common threads.

The direction of my sculpture over the years has been re-purposed materials as a way of giving voice to my personal convictions. In working with rope in particular, I noticed the polarizing nature of rope as a noose and its historical context. Rope remains an ugly symbol of the American past and yet it is highly accessible. I find it paradoxical that that something so simple and ordinary can have such power. These materials have symbolic presence that engage the viewer, as do the many other materials that I use in my creations.