Masud Olufani

Artist Statement

My multidisciplinary practice explores the resonance of memory; the narrative traditions of African and African American folklore; and the fluid, improvisatory nature of Black vernacular expressions. I work with a disparate assortment of materials and studio methods--renderings, sculptural form, sound, video, and performance--to investigate the ways in which objects operate in both the objective and subjective realities, and how history tethers those objects to individual and collective memory. Thematically my work addresses issues such as social stratification; economic destabilization; racial justice, and the soul’s aspiration for transcendence. My devotion to craft and the slow methodical realization of an idea in visual form reflects my belief in the maker’s ability to imbue the object with spirit through physical labor, fueled by vision and creativity. Finally, I am a Baha’i, and my work aspires to, in some small way, carry forward an ever advancing civilization.

My work is often layered with multiple references and meanings that avoid trite summations. A prevailing archetype that has particular resonance in the conceptual formulation of my ideas is that of the ‘trickster’, who, in the context of African folklore, exists at the crossroads; the meeting place between opposing ideas. At this intersection of possibilities we are asked to choose, to interpret a set of visual indicators which point towards a direction without being didactic. It is the elasticity of the visual language; it’s ability to expand and accommodate multiple points of view that inspires and compels me.