Gerald Chukwuma’s Shared Horizon – a critical review

At first like an overwhelming forest, wood brown plates with uneven chopped edges, tree bark textures blended into indigenous motifs and symbols with a sparring splash of blue green tones in the background and a striking little red portion.

Hidden in the woods, two human figures kneeling into each other, one in dark blue hue and the other in black, their bodies textured almost in the form of a full body tattoo.

The figure in black having the features of a female human is kneeling on her two legs with one hand to support the pose.

The figure in dark blue kneeling on one leg with the other stretched out and hands holding on to an undefined support to keep on the pose. Two of them facing each other like in a conversation.

Even though their ears are covered one with a headset and the other with an undefined object in the similitude of a phone.

Interestingly the female figure is carrying an obvious load for reasons of its bright red color.  
 
Chukwuma’s title of this piece, Shared Horizon, is instructive seeing that the mood pulsating from the painting is more sober than exciting. The viewer at first glance is not particularly drawn to observe any specific part of the piece until the red luggage is spotted.

The choice of the shades of colors used are more somber conveying the notion of seriousness, sadness or both. The atmosphere in the painting is solemn; it suggests that something sacred might be going on here.

This work is best enjoyed in bits and then appreciated as one, interacting with each section one after another and putting them together as one for proper appreciation how the best way to savour the visual meal presented before the view. In the Nigerian Generation Z, language it is an 8 on a scale of 10.

An horizon is a two edged sword, one edge is a meeting point of two bodies, while the other edge is the limit of an entity, two bodies can also meet at the limit of themselves. The posture of kneeling is one of difference and sometimes tiredness – when the legs can no longer support the weight of the body due to strenuous activities, the human reflex is to kneel down as an intervention. 
 
In this work what exactly is Chukwuma’s thought line, is this an attempt to spotlight human limitation or describe the state of human existence where all things have come to a halt, a situation usually described as a crossroad or horizon (to borrow from Chukwuma’s lingo) a common cycle of humanity we all share from .  
 
Whichever it is, as human beings we experience highs and lows, our outcome of both are usually dependent on the support we have either natural or built.

In this piece, Chukwuuma through male and female figures alludes to the shared concerns and experiences of humanity as an idea that originates from male-female relations, without exonerating both of them of the idea of weakness especially at crossroads – this we all as humans have in common. 
 
By Guest Author
Prof. Krydz Ikwuemesi