Joke Amusan

Das Ist Für Dich (This Is For You), 2019 is an expression of the search for ‘belonging’, the title suggesting that the artwork is for anyone who identifies with it. It speaks to Joke’s younger self and her very being as she examines the concept of “Blackness”, and how this impacts the identity of Black women today. It highlights that Black women have a complex nature and there is no singular way to be Black. The piece is for the ordinary woman, and Joke highlights this through the use of an overlooked material, hessian – she chooses to elevate it and offer it a new lease of life. This piece is an accumulation of the beauty of disparate experiences and creates an immersive environment where tall hessian tapestries act as banners and the viewer is permitted to engage and enter into a conversation. Red wool statements are stitched into the hessian to present a protest piece which tells a story of people uniting and speaking up.

Das Ist Für Dich (This Is For You) creates a home in a place that may not entirely feel like one.

Joke Amusan is a German-born Nigerian artist based in London, and her art practice highlights the experiences and complex beauty of what it means to be a Black woman. Her art pieces are conversational, encouraging women to come together to share their stories and to embrace who they are unapologetically.

The initial driving force behind her work was the lack of Black people she saw represented in the media and beyond when she was growing up. This inspired her to create what she wished she saw herself when she was younger, and so she began to create her own art to uplift Black girls. Having worked with materials and mediums such as sculpture, audio, and film to explore the many ways this can be expressed, her key choice of materials is hessian and red wool. Joke expresses that they translate the conversations in her work well because she feels deeply connected to those materials. Words are also an important aspect of her work and they weave through her art practice like a narrative, joining everything together. Her work has been exhibited in the UK, Switzerland, Germany, and now the US. Joke also runs She Stands Firm, which exists to empower Women of Colour and create a safe space, whether through sharing stories, speaking out about certain issues, or just being a platform to reflect some of the incredible women who are out there.