While some African artists create works only with textiles, others choose to include fabrics to give depth or draw attention to a specific aspect of their work. They combine acrylic paint with African wax fabrics in their art pieces, alluding to the complicated history of the fabric and its Dutch colonial legacy. Their figurative portraits, although realistic, present a different perspective on Africa and its diaspora.

Patrick Quarm

Born in 1988 in Kumasi, Ghana, Patrick Quarm graduated from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology with a BFA in Painting in 2012, before earning an MFA from Texas Tech University in 2018. He draws on his experience growing up in Ghana surrounded by the residual impacts of imperialism to explore themes such as cultural hybridity and social dialogue. His paintings weave and splice cultural signifiers from different eras and communities into multi-layered works. The subjects of his figurative portraits are friends, family, and colleagues, who come with their own complex backgrounds of hybridity. Quarm combines acrylic paint with African printed fabrics for its implication as a politically charged material as well as its association both culturally specific and representative of global exchange.

Raphael Adjetey Adjei

Born in 1983 in Accra, Ghana, Raphael Adjetey Adjei Mayne lives and works in Cologne, Germany. He studied at the Ghanatta College of Art and Design. His paintings on canvas or cardboard are created with a colorful mix of oil pastel, chalk, and acrylic, juxtaposed with African Wax prints and recycled fabrics. Mayne combines the traditional influences of his homeland with the modern aesthetics to explore personal and social themes. Using West African Adinkra symbols, his work captures the essence of a moment with simple details evoking peaceful reflection and colorful movements filled with positive energy. The faceless people he portrays float in front of dynamic flower fields, bringing focus to their garments and surroundings. This creates a sense of universality, leaving the viewer to decide who the subject of the painting is.

Marcellina Akpojotor

Born in 1989 in Lagos, Nigeria, Marcellina Akpojotor had her first apprenticeship under her father. She assisted him with drawing, design, stencil, writing and calligraphy work before she eventually moved on to study Art and Industrial Design at the Lagos State Polytechnic. In her vibrant textured portraits, Akpojotor combines scraps of Ankara fabric with materials such as acrylics to explore themes like femininity, family, and identity. Her subjects become patchwork collages, which the artist places over flat pastel backgrounds filled with everyday objects. In her series Ode to Beautiful Memories (2021), Akpojotor uses the family photo album to remember and celebrate past lives, illustrating domestic scenes that aptly consider posterity. With ordinary moments being at the centre, viewers are welcomed into a generous display told with the very fabrics that resonate with both the artist and her characters.

Kimathi Mafafo

Born in 1984 in Kimberley, South Africa, Kimathi Mafafo was encouraged early on to take art classes by her father. She completed her studies in Fine Arts at the College of Cape Town in 2007 followed by a diploma in Film and Video in 2016. Mafafo’s imagery is partly guided by her desire to celebrate the black female body, inspiring women to embrace their own worth and beauty. Using painting, embroidery, and installation, her compositions depict Black women surrounded by natural motifs and sumptuous textiles. While her paintings typically depict vibrantly colored scenes, her embroideries might employ a slightly more subdued color palette as seen in her series Ebullience (2023). Mafafo has collaborated with a Ghanaian tailor on a series of embroideries, which are telling stories of women trapped under the weight of tradition, oppression, and not fully realising their worth.