In Missaligned, Davies explores female identity, body

For her first solo show in the country, emerging artist, Tiffany-Annabelle Davies, explored the challenge women faced last year during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and lockdown.

Titled, MissAligned, the show, which opened on Monday, October 18, 2021 and ends today at No Parking Lagos, in Onikan, is curated by Naomi Edobor.

Using a storytelling technique, it featured a collection of charcoal, acrylic and oil pastel works on paper and canvas.

Conceptualised during the lockdown, she drew on sources ranging from anxiety, female identity and body morphology, while exploring personal struggles amplified during isolation. She revealed the artist’s ability to infer from a nexus of ideas, embodying the very act of breaking up and sharing.

MissAligned is a play on the root word that translates imperfection, the societal title, ‘Miss’ given to every female when they come into the world and her signature line-drawing style. “There is complexity in composition, achieved through overlapping techniques. The technique gives the public a specific context that takes shape only in dialogue. Transferring to the canvas ideas, sensations and emotions,” she revealed. Her works are arresting, drawing one in almost instantaneously.

Visitors to the show will be surprised by its elegant and refreshing approach to female narrativisation from a young contemporary that is a welcome addition to Nigeria’s creative scene.

The artist’s opening statement reads: “The body of each woman is perfect with its imperfections.”

With such a remark, she set the tone for an emotional, artistic display centred on the fragility and resilience of womanhood.

Much of her work exists to evoke emotions based on the conversations and observations she has in her community. “My technique is constantly evolving as I explore the different mediums that I experiment with at various stages of my career,” she said.

Speaking on the subject of her exhibition, Davies revealed that had always been drawn to the symbol of triangle, which signified her desire to create new bridges of reflection. “Juxtaposed against the fluid lines of the female form, we are reminded that women, in all stages of their lives, are encouraged to achieve certain perfections which have grown into societal pressures,” she said.

Despite the prevailing sentiment that women should conform, she said, “it is important for people to keep talking about their experiences to keep reminding women that there is value in who they are beyond the self-imposed perfections they try to achieve.”