Christian Hiadzi’s arresting figurative works explore emotional tension between representational portraiture and the beauty of unsettling abstract portraiture caught within the ordinary. Christian Hiadzi is a Ghanaian-British self thought artist, born in Ghana where he spent part of his formative years before moving to London, England where he lives and work. He has been making art since the age of 8, and as a professionally trained architect, he sees a strong interrelationship between both practices. Art and architecture to him, are the yin and yang that helps him to keep a balance 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 imagination of the viewer is pushed beyond the obvious. His emotions are expressed through his work, and he sees himself in every work that he creates. What is a painting, if it cannot move you emotionally or challenge your imagination, he asks.
Using acrylic, sometimes oil and charcoal, his works oscillates between heavily worked, textured and colourful figures and recently dark skin figures. Executed through the use of brushes and palette knife. He sees himself as constantly evolving as a person, and this is manifested in his varying style or 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 visible to the human eye. His work has been collected in private collections worldwide.
