International Artists in Tampa Investigate Home and Identity

Roving presents mixed media and fiber-based artworks by Nneka Jones, Kandy G Lopez and Eugene Ofori Agyei. Deftly weaving together the medium of fiber with painting, sculpture, performance and installation, Roving invites viewers to investigate notions of home, belonging, identity and ancestry. Rather than arriving at fixed destinations or meanings, the artworks included in Gallery221@HCC examine the psychological and emotional complexities of self-reflection, movement and memory. Intertwining our sense of being with the process of becoming.

About the artists

The Roving exhibit is created by three artists, all born in different countries, but have a connection to the Florida art scene.

Nneka Jones

Nneka Jones is a Trinidadian-born multidisciplinary artist currently working in Tampa. She credits teh Caribbean for sowing the seeds of her artistic roots as she became fascinated with with drawing, painting and sculpting portraits of women and notable Caribbean figures. In 2016, after placing first in the Caribbean for Art and Design Examinations, Jones saw an opportunity to further her art education in the United States and made the difficult decision to leave family and friends behind to pursue her art career.

She has carved a serious niche for herself by creating vibrant mixed-media paintings and thought-provoking, socially conscious art. Her innovative use of thread and paint meld the fine art world with the craft realm, making her work as unique as it is visually stunning.

Kandy G Lopez

Kandy G Lopez is an Afro-Caribbean artist currently working as an Associate Professor at Nova Southeastern University in Davie. Born in New Jersey, she moved to Florida with her family and received her BFA and BS from USF. As an Afro-Caribbean visual artist, Lopez is eager to be challenged materialistically and metaphorically when representing marginalized individuals that inspire and move her.

Her works are created out of the necessity to learn something new about her people and culture. Lopez is interested in developing a nostalgic dialogue between the artwork and the viewer. If she’s not learning from her materials and how it affects the message, it’s not worth creating.

Related: The Tampa Arts Alliance is Putting Tampa on the Map

Eugene Ofori Agyei

Eugene Ofori Agyei is a Ghanaian-born artist currently working as the Robert Chapman Turner Teaching Fellow at Alfred University in Alfred, New York. He has shown his work in both group and solo exhibitions across Florida. He has also shown in Maine, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, Virginia, Connecticut and New York.

Agyei is a multimedia artist. His practice focuses on the creation of sculptures and installations that coalesce notions of belonging, displacement, identity, memory, and dislocation.

Internationally, his work has been exhibited in Turkey and recently attracted the attention of prominent German art collector Franz, Duke of Bavaria. The Duke acquired three of Agyei’s works and has ultimately committed to place them in museums.