Bundanon

Hope River, b. 1994, is a Black-British artist currently living in Aotearoa New Zealand.

She works in the mediums of painting, drawing, and poetry. Born to an English mother and Rwandan father, her art centres identity, race, and spirituality. Compelled by personal experiences and Afrocentric folklore, River’s aesthetic blends stark silhouetted scenes, a hallucinatory colour palette, and Afro-surrealism, confronting racism and its ongoing impact on the black psyche. She studied Fine Art at Leeds Arts University (HND, 2014), The HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (BA HONS, 2017). 

In Residence at Bundanon

River will begin to research and develop a body of work for her project, FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET. 

This project poses the question of: how can a black artist effectively communicate the omnipresence of racism in their daily life using only a static image and avoiding the use of stereotypical portrayals of blackness?

During residence, River will examine the subgenre of black horror to begin to unpack this question. She will also experiment with different drawing/ painting techniques to develop a visceral visual language to represent her authentic experience as a black woman, whilst subverting established norms.