A BREAK IN CONTINUITY : In Conversation with Daniel Atenyi
The artwork series in focus is characterized by drawings created using charcoal powder and coffee wash. On closer reflection, the materials produce an interesting contrast. While the use of the charcoal seemingly exudes intentionality and strives for control, the coffee on the other hand behaves with a kind of heedlessness and hazy blankness. It is as if, it simply exists with neither ambition nor direction. The fragility and purity of white paper as a surface, visa vie its capacity to hold and reflect heavy sentiments, makes for an equally compelling contradistinction.
 |
| Daniel Atenyi, Strange Reminders, 2024, Charcoal and Coffee Wash on Paper, 119x89cm, Courtesy of Afriart Gallery |
Daniel Atenyi’s
practice navigates the fleetingness of the now within the grand scheme of
things. This can be interpreted as the thought that so much is happening in
this very moment, which will cease to exist in the next. There is so much happening
in our worlds and so much more in our minds, to the point that we seemingly lose
our own personality and thereby cease to exist as individuals. Always on the
move and always on the go, worldly continuity and endless thoughts of the next things
to come consume us to the point that we become nonexistent in the now. The
questions of, "who am I in this one moment?" versus "who will I be in the next?" start
to take center stage, in an endless quest to define what truly matters to our
existence. The busy culture fueled by societal pressures that often dictate
what one ought to have achieved by certain points in one’s life, mirrors a daunting
current state of existence.
The drawings manifest as ghostly portraits of persons unknown but of sensibilities quite familiar to most. The artist embodies these strangers as an avenue into introspection around the complexity and broadly nuanced nature of human emotions, based on personal experiences. Some of the figures are in a state of glitching, similar to experiencing malfunctioning, while others are fading away. Some appear as shadows while others as outlined shells of their inhibitors. The artist manipulates the physical human shape and form in semi-abstract ways to conjure unseen moments of a collective human memory. Feelings such as internal dilemma, self-doubt, anxiety and uncertainty. It is as though the artist is peeking into personal experiences, of parts of us that we dare not expose to the outside world, and with such profundity.
Qn: How does
materiality i.e. the use of charcoal and coffee feed into the subject matter?
I love using
charcoal to draw because it is organic and easy to create dynamic contrasts
between light and shadow, which adds a sense of drama to the figures. The
coffee on the other hand adds warm layers and with much less control, giving
unpredictable texture to the drawings, something that could directly translate to
the unpredictability of self-perception and state of mind.
Qn: How does
your style influence the subject matter?
Through the use of both realism and surrealist abstraction, my art seeks to blur the lines between the conscious and subconscious mind, the physical and the spiritual realm, and the inner and outer world. My aim is to create a visual language that provokes introspection and encourages the viewer to explore the hidden depths of their own psyche.
Qn: Why do the
subjects’ faces appear blurred?
I find that faces cannot sufficiently
represent the themes I explore currently. If I defined the faces in the work,
the audience’s attention would drift away from the main subject matter and to
the subjects’ identities instead. There is a quality of openness with the
drawings, which allows the viewer to embody the subject space; I think this
allows for a more intimate interpretation of the work. The faceless subjects
also introduce a level of mystery, which I tend to enjoy in my art.
 |
| Daniel Atenyi, Inversion II, 2024, Charcoal on Paper, 77x59.5cm, Courtesy of Afriart Gallery |
 |
| Daniel Atenyi, It's Raining Outsiders, 2024, Charcoal and Coffee Wash on Paper,119x89cm, Courtesy of Afriart Gallery |
Qn: What
inspires the titles, “Strange Reminders”, “It’s raining outsiders” and
“Inversion?”
The drawing,
Strange Reminders, is a depiction of an individual with a fading sense of self,
as if an identity is slipping away and becoming indistinct, the subject has the
hands and legs seemingly submerged to the knees, symbolizing immersion in
routine, a bittersweet part of life. The hands and legs that work to provide
have the protagonist grounded, but an identity is lost inadvertently, the
posture sets a mood of individual insignificance in relation to the grand
scheme of life in the world. The drawing is inspired by my observation of the
slave-away way of life a large majority of the world leads today, where many
people forget to pay attention to the simple things in life and in turn lose
what would have truly been a life worth living and remembering.
‘Strange
Reminders’ and ‘Its raining outsiders’ are very similar since I made them
simultaneously and both represent the same observation. In the piece, ‘It’s
raining outsiders’ the subject’s identity and entire being is nearly completely
gone.
The Inspiration
for Inversion also comes from the same place, where I end up with the drawing
depicting tension between presence and absence, where darkness embraces erasure
to a point that what is left is only a few light lines that represent an
attempt at tracing the paths from what has now been lost.
Qn: What is happening in this series?
“Many things became meaningless to me
while so many other new elements of life became important,” says Daniel.
The artist
recalls conceiving this direction of work from past recollections, catching
himself in various difficult moments of introspection. With Covid 19 being a
climax event, extreme conditions of solitude coupled with the uncertainty that
comes with existing as an artist, something often considered an unserious
decision in a serious world, conspired to create this personage. To sit with
and to acknowledge his own uncomfortable feelings, to ponder on the essence of
every moment as its own unique entity and to arrive at unexpected meaning in
mundane moments, the artist started to draw these dark figures reflecting on
and attempting to understand his own subtle inward experiences.
 |
| Artist and Author at the exhibition, "A Break in Continuity," 2024 |
Comments