Safaa Erraus, Morroccan Artist will be in Lagos on research trip and will make an informal presentation of her work.
Safaa Erraus, Bitter notes, 2011- Gauze bandages, tape and razor blades on cotton paper- 50x50cm Courtesy the Artist.
Safaa Erraus. Photo Jude Anogwih
Shortly after graduating from art school the colour white started to permeate the paintings, objects and installations of Safaa Erraus. This was the result of her experience on a research project that took her around the towns of her country, Morocco documenting and photography the colours and motifs of the souks and big marked. Back in her studio, she says, ‘I covered myself in an all white blanket tent that I made, feeling the need and the wish to wipe out and purify myself from all the colours that I had seen and absorbed. From that moment onwards, I started without looking back, to use only white.’
Erraus embraced the monochromatic, making it her signature visual and formal language. As a formal composition as well as a conceptual strategy, the implied neutrality of a single colour is the starting point for mixing and transforming objects and elements such as pins, needles, razorblades, cotton gauze, and other everyday materials into works that evoke feelings of fragility, uncertainty and as well as hope.
Safaa Erraus (1976) graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts, Tetouan in 1998. She has participated in several exhibitions in Morocco, across Africa and internationally.
