Polly Alakija: GCLF 2012 Facilitator

Polly Alakija was born in 1966, in Malvern UK where she completed A levels including art as a subject. She continued studying art at the Oxford Polytechnic and later completed a teaching diploma in the Montessori method. She moved to live in Nigeria from 1990, married, and in 2005 relocated to South Africa. In 2011 Polly moved to the UK , and is now based in Gloucestershire.

As well as pursuing her own art career, she has involved herself actively in community art related projects and painting.

Polly is particularly interested in the human form and the portrayal thereof. Her architectonic figures languish within their laconic environment in timeless serenity, self-contained and unperturbed.

Her canvases are inhabited by gentle giants of nature, whose energy is conserved in a permanent lethargy, where rich colour contrasts, brushwork, form and texture dominate.

She is inspired not only from art historical traditions, but also from everyday life, often cajoling a model from the street to pose in her studio. She has exhibited in France, the UK, the University of Ibadan, Lagos, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Her work is included in numerous private collections in the USA, UK, France, Nigeria and South Africa and in several corporate collections, including Sahara, AVI, and Laurent Perrier.

Polly Alakija will facilitate the creative workshops for children at the GCLF.