Chioma Ebinama is a Nigerian-American artist interested in how animism, mythology, and pre-colonial philosophies present a space to articulate a vision of freedom outside of Western social and political paradigms. Her practice is centered around watercolors on paper, which explore drawing and visual narrative as a meditative practice and tool for self-liberation. Her work is influenced by a myriad of sources, from West African cosmology to folk art of the global South, to the visual language of Western religion and Eastern spiritual traditions. This collision of aesthetics is indicative of Ebinama’s nomadic life, wherein her travels, she has collaborated with local artists to make textiles, sculptures, and wearable art. Born in Baltimore, Maryland (1988), Ebinama currently lives and works in Athens, Greece.

Text from Salon 94