03 march 2023, Manuela Klerkx
The timeless art of Brooklin A. Soumahoro
The work of LA-based artist Brooklin A. Soumahoro (1990, Paris) has been strongly influenced by his travels around the globe, the many friendships he has made and the languages he has learned along the way. Soumahoro likes to bring oppositional elements like structure and chaos, surface and depth, harmony and violence — elements we recognise from daily life — into his art. And although his works contain different historical and social references, they are also a figurative representation of himself and of what it means to be a human being. Soumahoro’s painting process requires extreme focus and precision and although the final result may appear almost perfect, on closer inspection, you’ll feel the artist’s hand across the entire canvas or page. A conversation with Brooklin A. Soumahoro about visual perception, the future, sampling, hyper focus and what it means to be alive.
You grew up in a multi-cultural environment in the Parisian region, learned multiple languages and have travelled to over 50 countries. To what extent do all these elements influence your art?
It’s undeniable that all of my traveling has provided a tremendous amount of learning experiences as well as friendships. Traveling ultimately opens the mind and soul; it’s a catalyst for personal enrichment. On the level of art, my education has not just been intellectual, but also experimental, seeing so many great artworks from all over the world in real life. I encountered art history in person, not just in books or on my laptop while studying in a classroom. Each location I’ve travelled to has taught me something. My personal geography is mapped with life lessons that have sharpened me and elevated me both consciously and unconsciously. Apart from visiting different countries, I’ve also lived in four: France, England, Brazil and now the U.S.
Brooklin A. Soumahoro, Untitled (Sprite Drawing (push/pull)) R.SP.GRY.5.22, 2022, rodolphe janssen
I read somewhere online that “Brooklin Soumahoro is a self-taught artist whose paintings straddle a space between expressive mark making and minimal compositional strategies.” Do you agree with that observation? Can you give an example of this?
If you look at my paintings from a distance so that you can’t really see the details, they appear to be a bright and bold colour field with a minimal composition. The closer you get to them, the more the paintings start to open themselves up to you — and you can begin to understand the multiple layers of oil paint, the intentionality, the excessive repetition of the mark making, how precise and yet how rough each mark is and how chaotic the surface can also be.
The organised grid hides the raw depth and aggression of the artwork. I like that I can bring all these oppositional elements into my work. But I also like to think that within the art historical and social references, there is a figurative representation of who I am, who we are, what it means to feel and to be alive.
Why does ‘visual perception’ play such a large role in your work and how? Vision is one thing, but perception is more subjective. One person’s interpretation doesn’t have to be aligned with someone else’s. And we need to accept that and treat each other with respect and integrity.
But also, there is more to reality than what we see. Sight isn't our most reliable sense. Some of the most important things in life are actually invisible. I find that contradiction fascinating. With my work, the viewer’s first impression will alter as they take the time to actually dive into the work. The perception from afar changes as the front of the surface is approached.
My process requires extreme focus and precision and the output can appear almost perfect, as if it were machine-made. But if you look closely, you’ll see my hand across the entire canvas or page. For instance, with my drawings, I leave the edges unfinished. That’s not obvious from a distance, but up close you can see remnants of the underlying grid and numbering, the skeleton of the work. I’m toying with what’s real and what’s not.
Brooklin A. Soumahoro, Supernova, rodolphe janssen
While the technical methods I use for making paintings and drawings are very different right now, my essential approach is the same — I’m getting to the essence of what a work of art is about: colour, line, composition, texture, lightness and darkness, etc. I’m getting straight to the point. I have developed a technique that suits my personality, which is very important for me. I’m able to hyperfocus while working — I become immersed in the process and grounded in time. This requires patience and repetition, and although it’s mentally challenging, I often lose myself in my work. Even though the techniques I use to make paintings and drawings are different, I enjoy going back and forth between the two. They require different kinds of mindsets and physical energies. With my paintings, the grids are completely planned, but I leave the colours up to intuition. My drawings are more improvisational. It’s a balance.
On your website, it states: “His [Brooklin A. Soumahoro, red.] practice is a direct response to his lived experience navigating the physical and spiritual world and a collective humanity.” What exactly do you mean by this?
My work is primarily centred around my experiences. As you mentioned earlier, traveling around the world has taught me how to take care of myself, as well as the people around me, and beyond that, to care for humanity as a whole. I like diving into people’s minds, listening and exchanging experiences, learning new things. I have an inquisitive personality. I want to understand the complexity of who we are as a people, how we function, where we are going, etc. I think about the relationship between colour, art and therapy. Art can create a window for us to feel through, to tap into the unknown. We all have an innate ability to feel and art affects us psychologically.
My work is also inspired by our environment. Nature is constantly trying to find the most efficient way to shape and organise itself. Natural law — universal law — seeks the best mathematical and geometrical solutions. I’m fascinated by the beauty of geometry in nature. I invite people to look into it. It’s mesmerising. Above all, I understand that some things are in my power and others are not. I can take credit for certain things and for others I’m simply grateful to the universe. Collectively, we’re dealing with quite a lot and although I know a lot of work still needs to be done, I’m ultimately optimistic for our future and I want to make work that relates to that.
In her press release ‘Perception is the Medium’ from August 25, 2022 that accompanies your exhibition at Rodolphe Janssen, Danielle Shang writes: “Sampling, the technique of first digitally encoding sound and then layering it in a new composition of music, can be analogised to the drawing process of Brooklin A. Soumahoro. The artist has so far assigned close to a hundred of his favourite pencil colours with unique numbers in his DIY colour chart, assembling a repertoire for him to explore colour relationships with economic forms, neat surfaces and geometric compositions to activate colours into synchronistic flows, note by note and beat by beat.” Do you agree with this description of your drawing process? And if so, where does the ‘sampling’ idea coming from?
Well, Danielle was giving an example of how to understand the way I use colour in my drawings. When she came to the studio, she saw the show that was going to Brussels for Rodolphe moving visually and she experienced that it could be interpreted auditorily as sampling music, one note after the other. I like this connection between sound and vision. I read somewhere that “Geometry is the music that we listen to with our eyes.” History is important to me. There is no way to move into the future without acknowledging the past, both the good and the bad. Sampling in music is acknowledging the past and making something new out of it. But that's just the natural order of things.
You say that you use abstraction to engage in our emerging future. Can you explain this more concretely?
My paintings are in some ways a stamp of cultural diversity. I use abstract visuals, but the conversation around them is a figuration of the world we live in. The world is so multicultural, something I embrace and cherish. And it’s only getting more and more diverse. Cultures will continue to mix as we move forward. These layers are in my paintings. I feel like there’s still some expectation for black artists to make figurative work. But the cultural conversations I want to engage in are always evolving and abstraction allows my work to evolve with this unified consciousness about who we are. Black artists can make figuration as well as abstraction and more. I like work that can transcend time and stay relevant even one hundred years later. Work that you can’t easily tell when it was made. Figurative art often contains details that date the work, like people’s fashion, modes of transportation, etc. Abstraction can go beyond that. I like timelessness. And I would like my own work and my career to be a source of inspiration for others in the future, like past artists have been a source of inspiration to me. We gotta keep the wheel turning.
Are you working on any new projects right now? If so, can you give us a hint?
Yes, Art Paris in March with rodolphe janssen; a group show in Copenhagen in April; and another art fair in Brussels.
Brooklin A. Soumahoro, Untitled (Lightning Field Drawing (push/pull)) I.M.LF.PNK.1.22, 2022, rodolphe janssen
