YINKA SHONIBARE CBE Material (SG) I, 2019
Hand painted fiberglass resin and stainless steel
Material (SG) I is a sculpture that explores the notion of harnessing motion, and freezing it in a moment of time. Shonibare explains, “I am trying to do the opposite of sculpture–to sculpt the impossible. I am interested in making the movement of the wind visible through a sculptural form. Most of us move around the world, if you fly, there is wind involved, and if you come by boat, there is wind involved,” Shonibare continues, “These sculptures are a metaphor for the natural movement of people. Migration.”
The works represent a distillation of Shonibare’s ideas about identity as a cultural construct, a theme that runs throughout his entire career. The concept of hybridity is embedded in the Dutch wax textiles that have become the artist’s signature and upon which the sculpture’s patterns are based. The mixed origins of the fabric —factory-made by the Dutch, based on Indonesian batiks sold to Britain’s West African colonies, embraced there and considered in the world’s eyes as authentic African products, make a perfect vehicle to inspire conversations about our multilayered identities and global interdependence.
