It lost its intended functions as cover for someone or symbol of something. Masks are utilized as the seed for his creativity, as a visual concept before he takes up the brush. Even when Kho could presents Petruk (a Javanese puppet character), he delves deeper into the mask’s basic existence, never Petruk at its face-value.
While the mask is not seen as who anymore. Kho”s explorations on masks has reached into its darkest nock and crannies. Every mask he finds, approaches and then explores accumulated into a creation. A million mask drops from his brush. Only the essence spreads over his canvas.
“Masks in my hand is power. A magistrate”, he said once
The fact that mask are able to penetrate Kho’s basest fantasy and imagination is heavily influenced by its diversity, ubiquitous and historical complexity. Indonesia proved to be a fertile ground for him for her extraordinarily rich heritage of masks. Thousands of mask has been created for a multitudinous of functions everywhere, from west Sumatra through to Irian Jaya east, since the beginning of time.
And yes, this challenges Kho to always create unique works. Which is his.

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 He uses African fabrics to create paintings on canvas which he has exhibited in Nigeria, the Netherlands and the UK. His undergraduate thesis was an analysis of the wall murals within the Ahmadu Bello University,  Zaria. This and his subsequent research on murals have continued to propel his passion to impact lives and minds by transforming dilapidated structures in slums with his colorful murals.  Recently, he launched the “I Can 100 Project” where he aims at painting murals in 100 communities across Africa. He has currently painted some communities in Nigeria and Ghana, and is working tirelessly to meet this target in 2 years. This campaign earned him a spot as one of the 25 AYADA Lab 2019 finalists which is supported by Goethe Institute, Alliance Français and iSpace Ghana.  Currently, he paints mural commissions, and the proceeds are used to fund his “I Can 100” community mural project.

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By manipulating the texture and depth of paintings and sculptures, this abstract figurative series explores the relationship between Black identity and congruence with, or resistance against, one’s environment, and the values and expectations that such surroundings impose: B[L]ackground.

Seeking to redress an imbalance of diversity in art whilst also inspired by the series’ core issues, Suleyman has drawn upon his own experiences as a man of Caribbean and African heritage to examine the central themes of race, selfhood, fatalism, and self-fulfillment in the context of gender, sexuality, and parenthood. Reflections on race relations and racial identity in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and the heightened focus on anti-Black racism have also inspired his recent pieces.

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Growing up in Comoros until 10 years old influenced his perspective on socioeconomic, the strength of community and the complexities of race, and has triggered Ibrahim to question his own Frenchness in relation to the island’s colonial past.
These artworks are adapted from archival photographs, pictures taken by the artist himself, memories, and imagination. They each portray the importance of family, of life itself and hope, illustrated by straight lines, bold gestural strokes and bright colors inspired by his studies in graphic design and art. In essence, Ibrahim uses the practice of painting as a way to reconnect and engage with his roots.
Ibrahim currently resides in London but from the age of 10 and throughout his adolescent life he lived in a small town in Brittany, France. It is not only his personal experiences but also those of the African diaspora that provide him with a narrative to share and explore how it is to be black and navigate the environment you are in.

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A statement that human shall study and develop oneself for a whole life impresses me very much. I consider that a talented person is obliged to find out something new throughout its life, to reach new more tops. If it ceases to develop oneself it will have nothing more to say to the audience by means of its works. At the present moment I am expanding my conception of the theoretical aspect of art and therefore I harmonize all the aspects of the talented person of mine.

Throughout the whole life a talented person shall pass a difficult and even a suffering way which may be related either to external events or to comprehension of the individual self. An artist creates its own image of the world and therefore it correlates its imaginations with the common laws of universe. We know that each way shall lead to the temple but the temple may be erected inside the human’s soul.

When I work I do not think whether someone will like my work and will buy it. I get delighted by the process itself, by the stages of creating a picture, by the way of implementation of my virtual idea. I cannot detach any certain image of the admirer of my works. I think everyone may find something close thereto among my works.

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