In
Critical Visual Commentary, Kasumba Stephen proposes a merge
of visual and verbal languages, two modes of communication that
have functional values in common. He wants to develop a functional
visual literature that when one is exposed to appropriate images
with the right mental attitude the images would act as prompters
of the mind. According to him, images are able to "speak"
in readily perceivable wave lengths, with no prior training required.
Stephen believes that the role of today's artist is to help in remembering
crucial social phenomena on behalf of ancestors, given that cultural
traits are genetically transferable (esthetical genetics). The re-awakening
of one's innermost impulses would allow silent initiation and/or
remote apprenticeship to take place, and forge a stronger bond between
the present and the past. To
achieve maximum expressive intent, Stephen seeks to balance the
emotional qualities of color and the dramatic properties of form.
The forms of his compositions are simplifications, deliberately
distorted, and with slight exaggerations of the intangible. His
bold brush strokes accentuates the intensity of viewers' aesthetic
experience.
EXHIBITION FORMAT
INSTRUCTION
The exhibition environment is divided
into two spaces, with thumbnails of the exhibits at the left side
of the screen. The images and text play in the center of the screen
as you click on any of the thumbnail images at the side. The exhibition
text accompanies the images. To return to this page, just click
the last thumbnail and click the "back" arrow/botton that
appears on the display screen.
