Research- Paul Mpagi Sepuya

Paul Mpagi Sepuya is a Brooklyn born and based artist who makes very beautiful and thought-evoking portrait projects. I'm featuring him on here for his project 'Mpagi Sepuya (or, with your names, you come here, you are home)'. A portrait series that explores his identity and a past that he doesn't feel he knows enough about.

His Father was from Uganda but left in the 1960s and lived in many places before settling in America and starting to be a doctor. It's about the disconnection these changes and moves meant with his family, the estrangement and finding out about family links and the past.

He does so using various techniques of portraits. There are those including himself, the use of a person, ones that include items and also ones that are based around letters he found sent between his father and his family as well as what various friends or people he knows have written or said about it. I think the artist wants to explore his connection and why he perhaps doesn't feel there is much. It's a very personal and touching project that shows this exploration.

The way he presented the project at an exhibition is also done beautifully, below I've included a photo of the gallery layout which I like for it's combination of text and image but the simplicity of the display. When I've been thinking about how to present my own work, I think I've been thinking of clustering it and making it all very full on. Perhaps the simple way and simplicity is something to consider to impact more and get the point across more.


I also like the interaction in the project because Paul got friends, acquaintances, people he didn't even know and more to help be it by posing for a portrait, writing him something or just providing him a link to further his exploration or journey. It's a different approach to mine and a far more personal project but absolutely beautiful.