I am an artist, indigenous healer, and curator from Biafra, currently based in London. As a self-taught artist, my creative practice is rooted in channeling the spiritual and metaphysical realms. Each piece I create serves as a landscape for exploring divinity, with a focus on sacred figures, especially those with brown and black skin, often portrayed through ancient archetypes and deities.

@ArtByAmarachi

My work is deeply personal, reflecting my journey as a disabled African mystic. It is an ongoing exploration of self-love, healing, and identity—a narrative shaped by years of navigating chronic illness, displacement, and the challenges of insecure housing. Art became my sanctuary, a medicine that grounded me during times of uncertainty.

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I incorporate foraged, dried natural materials into my pieces, using these elements as a bridge between worlds, embodying the sacred and the earthly. This integration of the natural world with my work is a conscious reflection of my belief in the interconnectedness of all things.

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸: Fragile Motherland
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𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 23rd May 2022⁣
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𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮: Sculpture⁣

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸: Chinnamastika: On living while decapitated.
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𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 30th January 2022⁣
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𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮: 3D Painting⁣
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𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼: acrylic paints, oil paints, goldleaf, glitter, Amarachi’s menstrual blood, gold sequins, chalk pastels, oil pastels ⁣
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𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸: This piece is a reimagining of the feminine spirit - Chinnamastika - the goddess of contradictions. Chinnamasta is a uniquely intense form of the divine energy Kali Ma, known as the self decapitating goddess. In Hinduism and various other spiritualities rooted in Asia, she has been received with limited perspectives and adverse reactions. Westerners often turn their nose up to the obscure and deeply esoteric aspects of spiritual awakening that she embodies. She has been demonised as a macabre psychic deviation rather than embraced for the spiritual essences that she represents: routes to self-actualisation that fly beyond preconceived ideas of conventionalism and the status quo.⁣
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Sanskrit dictionary:
Chinna (छिन्न).—p. p. [chid-kta]
1) Cut, divided, rent, chopped, riven, torn, broken.
2) Destroyed, removed; see छिद् (chid)
3) Decaying, declining.
4) Exhausted, tired, fatigued.
-nnā : A whore, harlot.
Often described as a sixteen year old girl with full breasts, Chinnamasta carries her own severed head (in a platter or a skull-bowl) in one hand. Held in the other hand is a khatri (a scimitar or knife) that she has used to decapitate herself. Like Kali, Chinnamasta is mostly depicted nude and with “dishevelled hair” in a blood red, blue or black coloured body. Among many things, she is a meditation on the dance between sexual energy and sexual control. I was attracted to reimagining Chinnamasta in the form of the African feminine as a way to confront the body shame, sacrifice, violence, revelation and regeneration that can surface during intimacy.

**"Agatha was Black - Unmasking martyrdom"**
**Date of Completion:** 10th March 2023
**Media:** 32 x 40 in. on canvas
**Materials including but not limited to:** acrylic paints, oil paints, chalk pastels, oil pastels, burnt plastic handcuffs, dried wild mushroom, glitter, dried flower essences: yellow and red rose, lily, woolly hegnettle alka lamb’s ear, chinese mock orange, daffodil, yellow stonecrop, seaweed from Lime Cay in Jamaica, bourgeon villas, purple blooms, cedar leaves, mimosa tree flowers aka natural pink silk from Jamaica, metallic pen, glitter pens, Amarachi’s menstrual blood
𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸: I often experience body dysmorphic states and this topic is rarely spoken about with compassion in African communities. I grieve often about the fact that African women are the only beings in living human history that have had their reproductive functions systemically enslaved - the wet nurses (then called “sucklers”) that were forced to nurture white children while their own children were neglected. This form of psychological and reproductive torture takes lifetimes to heal. It is these taboo, post-traumatic portals that I paint with each stroke of the canvas. I confront the lived experience of Black beings raised as girls and how that socialisation still lives in our bodies, affecting our nervous systems, how we relate to our sexuality and right to choose. I have felt comfort from honouring a feminine ancestor (Agatha) who embodied a sacred “no” until her last breath. It is easy to feel low self esteem as a violence survivor, especially as an African femme. Painting St. Agatha has given me space to grieve the adultification of young African girls and to celebrate the supernatural resilience that disrupts every torture we face.

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸: Remembering Biafra

𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 23rd May 2022⁣
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𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮: Sculpture⁣
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𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼: A Scrapbook with clippings from the Biafra Newsletter lays flat on a table covered with blue patterned cloth. At the foot of the table are two black and white photos of my parents on a bed of dried flowers and leaves. One photo is a full body image of my mum in a full length tunic/dress whilst the other is a headshot of my dad when young.

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Photo of Amarachi standing smiling in front of a pink wall. 3 of their art pieces are hanging on the wall.

Photo of Amarachi bending down with a piece of foam, using it to play the instrument “ùdù”. There is a collection of art pieces and artefacts in front of and around them.

In 2022, I had the honor of curating my first solo exhibition at Art Bypass Gallery in London, in collaboration with We Are Sweet 'Art and my arts organization Black Mind. This milestone is a testament to my commitment to curating experiences that not only reflect my own journey but also provide a space for marginalized voices to be heard and celebrated.

I am an African visual artist that is available for commission, creative workshops and exhibitions.

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