Baby Naming Ceremony 1990

Twins Seven Seven made this vibrant ‘Baby Naming Ceremony’ painting with ink and dye on board. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the surface, layering pattern over pattern to create a rich, dense tapestry of figures and objects. I imagine the artist deep in thought, intuitively responding to the emerging composition. There are fields of swirling colour and rhythmic repetitions that feel like the music of celebration, and I’m drawn to the hands holding the drumsticks, which seem to emphasize the beat and rhythm of community life. Seven Seven’s bold use of line and pattern feels akin to that of other self-taught artists who create their own visual language to express complex ideas and emotions. He draws inspiration from Yoruba mythology, blending tradition with personal expression. It’s as though he is in conversation with other artists across time, each riffing on the shared themes of birth, community, and cultural identity. The magic of painting is that it’s embodied: a record of the artist's movement, thought, and feeling.