A Prosperous Family by Marcellina Akpojotor

Nigerian artist, Marcellina Akpojotor, pulls us into her stories of family, generational prosperity, community, and the empowered martriachs who are their family’s strength.

Much of her life-sized art are snapshots of social interactions, clearly of family inspired by her own, in states of rest, meals, play, and just silent togetherness. She uses several media in her creations, most notably Ankara fabric. The Ankara in itself is strongly symbolic - it is a fabric that is part and parcel of West Africa, prized by women and worn on occasions that bring communities together. Plus, Marcellina visits tailoring shops and gathers their Ankara scraps which would have been thrown away. In doing so, she weaves in a strong point of view and advocacy against environmental pollution.

See some of her latest works below. They’re beautiful.

For more of Marcellina’s work, visit our previous post about the African artist here. Plus, read this insightful interview about her thought process.