MUNTHE ART MONDAY: NKECHI EBUBEDIKE

Please introduce yourself and tell us about what you do.

My name is Nkechi Ebubedike. My family is of Nigerian- Jamaican heritage and I was born in Baltimore. I am a multidisciplinary artist working across painting, sculpture and video.

Nkechi is wearing Elissa dress.

Can you name some other female (artist) that inspires you and explain why they do so?

Phyllida Barlow, Kara Walker, Wura Natasha-Ogunji, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Wangechi Mutu. These artists are bold and fearless in their own respective ways and their practice is emotive yet raw in an inspiring way.

Could you explain more about how being a woman has affected your career?

Womanhood is the focus of my art and often it’s the most inspiring subject for me. Exploring the complex and nuanced way that women mask themselves in today’s society has become the focal point of my work. I delve into unpacking the laboriousness behind the facade. And in being a woman artist, I find that I can do that through the distortion of the female form- bends, fractures, dissections, stretches, folds and lumps find their way into my work. But I absolve the women in my work from wearing these masks and give them tools to protect themselves; I want us to be more free about how we feel.

Nkechi is wearing Lollia shirt.

What has been the most challenging aspect of being a woman in the arts?

The most challenging part of being an artist is confronting your own internalized sense of being inferior. I believe there is a desire to view work created by women with a different lens than men and to simplify, reduce, or discredit the themes that the work carries which may add to that feeling of inferiority.

What would you like people to notice in your artwork?

I would like people to notice honesty and vulnerability about the human condition.

Nkechi is wearing Lollia shirt and Babe skirt.