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Faculty of Art

Drawing and Painting

Chimemelie Okafor

Things Fall Apart

Painting
2026
Oil paint on canvas
48 x 60 inches
Resistance

“"Things Fall Apart" spotlights reclaiming original ways of knowing through decolonization. The composition presents two opposing forces, the chicken as a natural timekeeper, contrasted with the repeating clock-hand patterns and the digital time 00:00. Strong contrasts between curves and straight lines emphasize the difference between spiralic time in Igbo culture and Western linear time. The painting is chaotic, with gestures and layered patterns to portray ongoing action. The tension between these forms reflects the struggle to return to Indigenous knowledge systems while confronting the continued presence of colonial structures.”

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Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart

Work by

Chimemelie Okafor

Drawing and Painting

“My body of work explores the Igbo concept of time through a four-painting installation that moves through stages of decolonization, progressing from pre-colonial understandings of time, to colonial...” [More]