by Bamba Gaye | Intro Bar | Free
Bamba Gaye is a Senegalese artist living in Cumbria. A mixed media artist, he uses paint, sculpture, textiles, graffiti and collage, as well as other techniques, to create his work. His influences include early modern art and African ceremonial artefacts, with his late father being an African mask collector. He creates work which expresses the influences that move him in the world such as the politics surrounding immigration, urban gangs and knife crime, racism, hip-hop culture and poaching.
He started drawing and painting at an early age, and when he lost his father aged 12, used his art to support himself. Making drawings for his classmates at school, and later, for his college friends; he charged a small fee for his work. This allowed him enough money to buy books, tools and food; being determined to take the pressure off his mother. These early experiences gave him the strength and direction present in his art.
Being from Senegal and living in Cumbria, he is known as the nomad or the traveller, and so his first exhibition in England is titled ‘Whisper from a Nomad’.
