Victor Ekpuk

“My interest and in creating art has been to use
elements of ancient African art, especially the writing systems, to
express contemporary experiences.  These ancient writings and graphic
symbols are the main inspiration for my style.  By reducing shapes to
basic lines, I arrived at a style that gives the impression of written
scripts.  When combined with contemporary forms, these “scripts” provide
the background narrative to my compositions.” – Victor Ekpuk

Ekpuk has imaginatively built on nsibidi and other
graphic systems, including Egyptian hieroglyphics, to develop a highly
personal set of script images that are both enigmatic and profoundly
compelling. The meanings of these “scribblings” transcend literal
decoding, but are hinted at through their elaboration in the painted and
sculptural forms in which they are embedded. His work reminds us that
the power of literacy cannot simply be reduced to the capacity of
written symbols to convey semantic meaning or formal content, but is
more broadly invested in human spiritual and cognitive struggles to
transform the very grounds of perception. – Mark Auslander (Ph.D)