Holly Black Takes Us On A Tour of Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s Works On View at The Huntington For The World of Interiors
The world of the home is found everywhere in Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s work. The artist uses everyday objects as beacons that illuminate the cross sections of her life, from the kerosene lamp that sat on her grandmother’s table in Agulu, Nigeria, to a piece of Ikea furniture purchased for her adopted home of Los Angeles. When asked about her eclectic practice, she’s said that she aims to ‘create weird combinations so you end up in a no-man’s land – where there is enough that different people will recognise, but also enough out of reach.’
The ‘weird combinations’ in question are mixed-media works that draw together acrylic, coloured pencil, charcoal, pastel and photographic transfers, the lattermost formed by rubbing acetone on to images in order to burnish them onto her canvas. The result is a collage of visual motifs and physical materials that draw you in to an atmosphere, as opposed to any singular scene. She plays with the shapes of domestic architecture – doors, shutters, sofas and carpets intersect at unusual angles, flattening perspective and collapsing boundaries in a way that leaves you slightly wrong-footed.