Ayobola Kekere-Ekun

Christian Hiadzi’s arresting figurative works explore the emotional tension between representational portraiture and the beauty of unsettling abstract portraiture caught within the ordinary. Christian Hiadzi is a Ghanaian-British self-taught artist, born in Ghana where he spent part of his formative years before moving to London, England where he lives and works. He has been making art since the age of 8, and as a professionally trained architect, he sees a strong interrelationship between both practices. To him, art and architecture are the yin and yang that help him maintain a balanced life.
At the core of his practice is the passion and drive to create work that in itself, becomes a catalyst to challenge and enhance the viewer’s imagination. He considers himself the conveyor, the vehicle through which the viewer's imagination is pushed beyond the obvious. His emotions are expressed through his work, and he sees himself in every piece he creates. What is a painting, if it cannot move you emotionally or challenge your imagination, he asks.
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Using acrylic, sometimes oil and charcoal, his works oscillate between heavily worked, textured and colourful figures and recently dark skin figures. He executes his work using brushes and a palette knife. He sees himself as constantly evolving as a person, and this is manifested in his varying style of working. Some of the artists who inspire him are Francis Bacon and Kerry James Marshall. In his work, the constant aim and strive, is to capture something much deeper than what is visible to the human eye. His work has been collected in private collections worldwide.