Anatomy of Landscape - Jos, Self-Portrait 01 (2018) is part of a series presenting a cross-sectional study of the artist's experiences in the Jos Plateau region in north-central Nigeria. The landscape’s profusion of residue from the mining industry, including bright blue tailings ponds that mark the topography, have laid the foundation for Abraham Onoriode Oghobase’s ongoing engagements with the histories, legacies, and consequences of resource extraction across the African continent. In this self-portrait, the artist appears to curl in a foetal position uncannily against a vertical wall. The ruined factory and stark blue sky echo the features of Jos’s intensively mined earth. The work excavates the metaphoric strata of the landscape, revealing multiple layers beneath the surface of Oghobase's personal encounter with Jos and its history of natural resource exploitation: bare grasslands and ancient rock formations indelibly scarred by human pursuits, past and present.

2018
Framed inkjet print on matte paper
Edition of 1 of 5 + 2 Aps
46" x 32"
Estimate: $10,000

Courtesy the artist