DJIBRIL N'DOYE
Artist/Painter
Member of the National Association of Artists/Graphists, Senegal

Growing up in a community active in farming, fishing, and raising cattle, taught me many things. Such a nurturing and cyclical environment was the "school of life" for me. I have been involved in art since my childhood.

I never underwent formal training in art as I grew up in a family with very limited finances. I always had difficulty getting standard art supplies. Nevertheless I satisfied my artistic desires by drawing sketches and giving them to my friends. During that time in my life, I was completely unacquainted with "art" as an academic term. But over time, with patience, perseverance, and simply doing what I always loved to do, I felt encouraged and adopted a personal philosophy that has made me very independent in the styles in which I express myself.

In my art, it is me first and the medium after. Freedom is the foundation of the manner in which I express myself. I like to create, but I also want to see my personality and life experience in what I create. I like to work in black and white as I often relate visually to natural and carved ebony wood and that has influenced me a lot.

Much of my recent work has been created by burning my drawings on wood, but this technique is not new to me. In the environment where I grew up, decorative woodburning is called "todjal". That is for those who want to show respect for, and to purify, an implement or vessel before use. The handles of hoes and pickaxes are passed through fire before use. The milk-filled calabash of sellers at the market are always decorated with a motif comprised of geometric designs which give them a very traditional look. The firewood which is used every day carries burn marks which to me are very interesting and artistic. My technique of woodburning is not only an extension of that which is done decoratively in Africa, but I am pushing myself to take it to a deeper level and a greater dimensions.

Using sisal rope to frame my drawings was an idea I had for a long time. Now the time is right and most practical for the phase I find myself in. And reflecting back again on the influence of my childhood, this is the type of rope used by the fishermen.

To create my art, I prefer to work in a non-traditional manner and move away from the strictly academic methods because my school is everyday life.