Nwaneri Kelechi Charles b. 1994, is a self-taught artist, born in Lagos State, Nigeria. He focused on the sciences during his early schooling years and went on to obtain a Bachelors’s degree in Agricultural Extension from the University of Nigeria in 2015. Inspired by Pencil Artists such as Kelvin Okafor, Arinze Stanley and Ken Nwadiogbu, he initially focused on Pencil Realism and has evolved to introducing other mediums such as Acrylic paints, collages, Watercolors and Oil paints.

Kelechi’s works stand somewhere between genres of Photorealism, surrealism, Post-modernism and contemporary art but perfectly fits into what he calls Contemporary Surrealism because; his work deals with issues of our present time, his use of multimedia and the conceptual feel in his work his works. These define Postmodernism and much of what is referred to as Contemporary art. A major characteristic of his work is the use of West-African Iconography, mystical, metaphysical, allegorical concepts and the Black Hybrid Figure {inspired by the idea of Scars and African Tribal Marks}. Kelechi’s work has been shown in exhibitions within and outside his country of residence and he won the annual Visual Art competition {2018} organized by the Spanish embassy in Abuja, Nigeria. He currently lives and works in Lagos State, Nigeria.

ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is born out of the desire to stir up conversations on issues around Social values, History, mental Health and the subconscious interaction between man and his environment. A major feature of my work is the“Hybrid (Black) Figure” inspired by the idea of scars and tribal marks. These figures are usually embedded with symbols(include mainly Adinkra, Uli, Nsibidi symbols), Automatic Lines and Adire patterns using primarily Pencils and Charcoal sticks.