Twins Seven Seven (ca.1945- ) of
Oshogbo, Nigeria has, this year, moved to Pennsylvania. He is
an enthusiastic, vibrant, magical character whose etchings, paintings and wood reliefs stem from
a rich imagination. His wonderful storytelling ability, manifests itself in words and paint.
Twins’ works are teaming with details of animals, invented creatures, spirits, forests, villages
and people. With pen and ink, gouache, markers, and dyes, he utilizes rich combinations of earth
tones to compose his fantastic stories. The Baptist Church in The Bush of Ghosts is one of his
early etchings that was inspired by writer Amos Tutola’s My Life in the Bush of
Ghosts. Here we
see minute details, multiple focal points and spaces filled with patterns. Villagers in a
Collective Mood could very well mean that the man and woman in their canoe are off on a journey
collecting what ever they come across! So far the boat is filled with a large coiled snake,
crabs and fish, one of which is getting devoured by the snake. This piece is what Twins
sometimes refers to as “pen’s dream” on masonite. More recently he is using an interesting
technique of appliquéd masonite on masonite. Twins has exhibited world wide.
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