Njideka Akunyili

Case study

Njideka Akunyili is a Yale MFA graduate, the recipient of numerous grants and awards, and a recent participant of the prestigious residency program at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. Njideka's paintings blend acrylic, charcoal, pastel and pencil with intricate collage and transfer techniques. The results are large, layered, and brilliantly colored figurative pieces. Drawing on the tension between the artist's Nigerian roots and developed Western ties, the work captures glimpses of intimacy between bi-racial pairs, and is imbued with traditional African patterns and palettes. Brand Bean designed a prototype website for Njideka, which incorporated subtle iconographical and color references to her paintings, while building on a minimal layout and structure that gave priority to the viewing of the work.