We were lucky to catch up with Monica Ikegwu recently and have shared our conversation below.

Monica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Since 2017 there has been a main project that I focus on. This project is a collection of portraits of people who identify as Black. I had started these portraits as a way to respond to the negative stereotypes that are associated with Black people. The next year in 2018, I wanted to flip the narrative and direct the attention towards the way that Black people identified themselves rather than continually focusing on society’s view of us. Of all the work that I have done I believe that these portraits are the most important.

They are paintings of real people just being themselves. Allowing people to present themselves freely makes the image more authentic and when presented for an audience, people just tend to connect and relate more to the person depicted. Not only that, but it also gives people a chance to act as an artist where they have some control in the outcome of the work. It introduces people into a small portion of the artmaking process so that they feel truly included and not used as a tool to bring someone else’s idea to life.

Monica, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a Baltimore based portrait painter. I started painting when I was 14, but I never intended for it to become my profession. I actually was going to quit art making after high school ended to pursue a nursing career. With persistence from my Father and teachers, I applied to the Maryland Institute College of Art and got accepted. The Maryland Institute offered me the most financial help for college so I decided to attend the school. While there my painting skills were refined and I was able to work them up to a level that people started to take notice. As more people resonated with the work and encouraged me to continue I made up my mind to fully commit to being an artist in my junior year of college. I am 24 years old and have been working on painting for about 9 years now.

I never wanted to be the sole center of my work, but I wanted to be a vessel to help bring other people to the spotlight. Looking towards others, I started doing portraiture as I have always loved capturing the hidden emotions within the face.

With my work I hope that people understand that stereotypes aren’t a way to look at others. People show who they are in many different ways that can never be grouped into one visual idea.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I started my Instagram in 2012. At that time I was in 8th grade. My instagram started out as my personal page where I posed pictures of myself and whatever I wanted. As I continued doing art I would post images of the work every now and then. The more work I made the more that I posted it. At some point the images of my work outnumbered my own personal images. By the time I was in college my instagram was fully dedicated to my paintings.

Even with having my page now dedicated to my work, I still had to gain followers. I noticed that I didn’t have to work too hard. When you post over years you will naturally develop a community of people who are interested in what you do. Once that community has been established, you have to stay on their radar. And that means posting consistently. Posting once a month won’t help gain attention especially with the algorithms on social media platforms. Posting at least once a week is best for maintaining a presence. And don’t let the amount of likes affect you, every now and then there will be a boost in activity that will bring attention to your page.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

From a young age I always pictured an artist as someone who only paints, nothing else. Having an actual art practice and selling work, I now know that holding the title of artist makes me responsible for taking on many more roles. I was shocked when I had to teach myself photography to document work, had to learn how to manage schedules to meet deadlines, had to learn how to build containers for shipping work, had to learn how to read contracts, etc.

From the outside a job may look simple, but sometimes it requires so much more effort to make it work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.monicaikegwu.wixsite.com/monicaikegwu
• Instagram: @monica165

Image Credits
Credit to Monica Ikegwu