Osinachi is a Nigerian artist who explores notions of race and gender through creating portraits of figures in various performative gestures. His process is rooted on a universally available software, Microsoft Word, through which he draws outlines of the figure and adds colors and other embellishments. Often taking his friends as models and employing a color palette that is inspired by traditional Nigerian textiles, his work imagines the possibility of breaking down the conservative norms of his own society when it comes to expressions of individuality and sexuality.
In A Beautiful Storm, the seemingly meditative facial expression of the model stands in sharp contrast to the dizzying patterns of white, blue, red, and black that dominates the entirety of the picture plane. As his gown uses the identical pattern with a smaller grain, the painting suggests a sense of unity between his interior, psychological dimensions and his external, surrounding environment. Through such formal elements, Osinachi addresses the erasure of black figures in Christian iconography and religious paintings and challenges traditional representations of masculinity and power.
