Owanto

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Owanto’s desire to express love and its fragility/underlying strength have given birth to a new display. Experimenting with glass, several of the sculptures are now housed in glass cages. The new element of glass conveys how something as strong as love needs protecting and also that the same protection can be destroyed in an instant. This protection and preservation, even though in a see-through cage, is also trapping its contents behind a solid barrier, still visible to the world, but inaccessible to those outside of this fragile casing.

Owanto has currently been exhibiting one of her latest series of work titled 'Where are We Going?' at the Smithfield Gallery in London as an Off-Frieze Exhibition. 'Where are We Going?' addresses issues regarding the world of art, the decay of a moral society and the family unit. 10% percent of the sales were donated to Refuge (Registered Charity number:277424).

Owanto has been selected to represent Gabon in the upcoming Biennale di Venezia 2009.

The initial artwork was a bronze sculpture called The Growing Family The sculpture has now been revisited many times in an exploration of different mediums and expressions. The latest is to turn the artwork into “soundbite art”, a reflection of the inability of today’s world to digest extensive information, and the need to convey messages in the least possible time. The artist presents a contemporary language and an urban symbology. Owanto wants people to connect with love and spirituality. The sculptures expressed in the most easily digestible format, a traffic signpost, convey the meaning of her art in seconds and serve as warning signs to those who would choose to ignore her message, a reminder that love and humanity must be observed.

Two of her works, “The Giver of Light” (2005) and “Seated Mother and Child” (2005) are a turning point. From here Owanto has travelled inwards and invite the viewer to see an inner side An inner side of both the force of love and of the sculpture. One cannot be seen without the other. What it is the sculpture made of, the materials of its construction, where does love come from? This has become the base matter for a new series of work. All the sculptures will be displayed in their new form showing its interior metallic structure originally intended to support the clay. The Giver of Light II is more elaborated but derives from the same original idea. This series is still a work in progress and is currently undergoing exploration in Owanto’s workshops.

Owanto first asked us in 2003, Why does a painting need a wall?
From here, Owanto started a new body of work - painted canvases wrapped around frames to create freestanding vertical forms. The first totem was born. New examples of her totems can be found here.

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