Inversion

Ilunga's portrait series serves as a critique of the commodification and colonial representation of the black female body. Informed by the pop art movement, the portraits utilize iconography to depict the black female form, thus integrating the pop art narrative into the interpretation of the black body.

Employing the use of red as a motif and contrasting black and white, Ilunga challenges viewers to confront the connotations and stereotypes attached to being identified as black. The artist aims to subvert the notion of black bodies as objects of consumption and to reclaim control over their representation, thus creating a new narrative that celebrates blackness.

This series acknowledges the long-term impacts of colonial representations on black female bodies and encourages viewers to accept their true selves, embracing both light and dark, past and present, love and hate. Through portraying the black female body within an iconographic setting, Ilunga invites viewers to challenge the commodification of black bodies and celebrate the beauty and complexity of the black female form.