Wedding Souvenirs

Acclaimed artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby responds to the lustrous paintings of Francisco Goya, the history of portraiture, and such personal effects as souvenirs from her wedding and that of her brother in this intimate self-portrait. She describes her mixed-media paintings as creating “a very active space where cultures come together to create something new” by juxtaposing visual cues from Nigeria, Los Angeles, and elsewhere to recognize the hybrid experience of people who move, travel, and share experiences across borders.

Mixed media collage portraying the artist herself, reflected in a mirror in front of which she is seated. On a shelf beneath the mirror rest a plate and cup onto which the photographs of a couple have been transferred. The artist is represented as seated and wearing a yellow cap-sleeved shirt, green head-wrap, and matching skirt. Her arms are crossed in her lap and her eyes are directed downward. The backdrop consists of commemorative cloth in which oval shaped photographs of a couple are surrounded by a pattern of green and grey ovals on a mustard-colored background.

Acquired from the artist

I Am: Contemporary African Women Artists, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 20, 2019 - April 3, 2022

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