An ongoing Madison Central Library art exhibit brings a unique experience to invite viewers to really see the struggles of invisibility immigrants face with “We Exist.”
Henry Obeng, an artist from Ghana, created a series of portraits with the faces of African immigrants. The exhibit, “We Exist,” aims to bring light to the continued issues of invisibility immigrants often face when they come to the United States. The exhibit has been in Madison Central Library since September on the third floor in the Diane Endres-Ballweg Art Gallery. Obeng gave an in-depth explanation of the meaning behind the exhibit and the processes behind the work.
Twelve portraits line the walls in the gallery space. Each portrait interpolates real photos of immigrants that were digitally altered using artificial intelligence. Obeng’s reason behind the changed appearances is to protect the identity of each subject and fuel the notion of invisibility — that these could truly be anyone.
“I feel a lot of people are living in people’s shadow,” Obeng said.
Obeng came to this conclusion through his work in community outreach. Outside of art, he helps immigrants find resources in housing, jobs, food and rental assistance, but he often feels as if there is some loss of identity as they are reliant on others for help.
Portraits are printed on paper made from cotton fibers. Obeng’s work has a strong focus on how he can repurpose waste from fast-fashion fabrics that are often imported into landfills in nations like Ghana. He strips the wasted fabrics down into fibers that go through an almost identical process as typical paper making that would use pulp from wood. The process can take up to a week.
The paper he created for “We Exist” is from black cotton fibers. Portraits were then printed onto the handmade paper in tones of black.
When you look at the portraits from a distance, larger details are noticeable but drown out on the black-on-black choice in style. Gold leaf painted on the faces of the subjects draws you in and glides your eyes across to canvas to examine each portrait in full.
“Most of these people, once you start talking to them, I think the eyes are the gateway to the soul,” Obeng said. “Once you get to genuine talking, you get to feel their problems become yours, and you would like to go the extra mile to find all these resources to help them.”
In closer view, you can make out the finer details of portraits. The muted details are now clearly present as you now finally see their faces to realize that they exist — what Obeng hopes to get viewers to realize.
“We Exist” will remain in Madison Central Library until December.
