For Kampala, Uganda-based artist Stacey Gillian Abe, expressing herself through the act of painting has always been a source of comfort. Basking in ideas of being and becoming, she explains that her paintings “explore black as an identity existing without any visible means of support through self-discovery and an understanding of one’s own identity.” 

Using indigo to render the bodies of her subjects, Abe references what she describes as “a skin tone that in history contributed in cementing narratives around being black, a substance that is intertwined in my DNA as a black woman,” and is “significant in forming and reshaping narratives around the black body.” She continues: “Each painting tries to highlight the essence of the subject through their individual vulnerabilities and imperfections. By positioning my muse in unruffled states of calm, relax, and no regret, they reassure and reclaim their place in a space of power and assertion.” 

See more from Stacey Gillian Abe below!