Utopia dystopia is a series of works that look at the ontological contradictions of one and the “other” within a space and time. It focuses on the contemporary Africa (diaspora) as it traces roots within historical lenses thus uncovering underlying useful information. The body of work is made of oil paint and image transfer. I use myself as a subject in this pieces of art to portray my own experiences as an outsider living in Germany while simultaneously reflecting my discoveries from the inside.

In (Utopia Dystopia I), I’m interested in the park scenery, an open public space with an element of greenery commonly referenced to the privileges often behind gated suburban residentials. The Park therefore becomes the perfect metaphor to express the contradiction between (in)accessible peripheries, especially through the perception of Europe from an African point of view and the lived reality as an immigrant on the ground.

The Barbados sheep also known as the Cameroonian sheep represents the remnants of migration in a post- and precolonial history. (Utopia Dystopia II) captures the gestures and body state of a subject waiting at the Ausländerbehörde. It attempts to bring forth the sense of one’s certainty and uncertainty when it comes to residency permit renewal, it also expresses the subject’s neutral state of calmness while exploring the concepts of the façade, what it means, what lies within, and thus trying to unveil underlying layers.