isee.art
Echoes of the Ancestors 1.1, 2025
Price
€3,200
Medium
Acrylic on Plywood Panel
Technique
assemblage, collage, carving
Dimensions
122 × 105 × 6 cm
Year
2025
About the Work
““Echoes of the Ancestors 1.1 & 1.2” are from a series that draws from the visual language of African masks, reimagined through my own hand-worked approach. The face is built from bold, segmented forms, almost like a mosaic, creating a structure that feels ancient and architectural. The heavy-lidded eyes and simplified features carry a quiet emotional weight, a calm tiredness that echoes the ancestral presence I often feel guiding my work. The dark, textured surface set against the light wood reveals every decision, every line carved or painted with intention. The outward-stretching hair forms and geometric torso markings reference cultural memory, childhood impressions, and symbols that have lived with me for years. For me, this figure stands as a guardian, strong, grounded, and watchful. It is an echo of the past, shaped by tradition but expressed through my own evolving visual language. Through its raw texture and deliberate irregularities, this piece holds the tension between heritage and personal reinterpretation, capturing the connection I continue to explore between where I come from and the art I make today.”
Artist
Shyne Eghosa
View Profileb. 1975, Lagos, Nigeria
Shyne Eghosa (b. 1975) is a Nigerian-born, self-taught artist whose work explores memory and identity through bold, textured compositions. Since beginning to paint in early 2023, he has developed a raw and expressive style rooted in Neo-Expressionism, Art Brut, and a Trans-Cultural approach where African heritage and European diasporic experience collide. Working primarily on wood panels with acrylics, oil sticks, pastels, and fabric, he draws inspiration from traditional African masks and crafts, as well as artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paul Klee, and Manolo Valdés. Many viewers relate his work to Basquiat, though his palette and forms also reflect the modernist spirit of Barcelona, where he currently lives. His choice of wood as a primary surface is rooted in childhood memories grounding his practice in personal history and an approach that embraces the raw, unrefined nature of the materials themselves. He is the founder of Unmaking Art Studio, a nonprofit space in Barcelona where a diverse group of emerging artists come together to share ideas, create, and exhibit. For him, “unmaking” is not about destruction, it’s about stripping away what no longer fits and giving shape to something more honest. As he puts it: “My art is a conversation between cultures, history, and my personal journey. Each piece is a step forward in discovering who I am.” Though new to the art scene, Shyne's work was selected for the juried Biennale di Chianciano 2024 in Tuscany, Italy. He has also exhibited in various group shows in Barcelona, and currently has work with Tobian Art Gallery in Florence, Italy.