Artist Spotlight: Philipo Dyauli

Philipo Dyauli is a self-taught painter, illustrator and draftsman from Tanzania. His work primarily consists of acrylic paintings inspired by favorite painters, African music, films, and nature. His childhood consisted of road trips, family reunions and visiting national parks in Tanzania. Dyauli incorporates his Tanzanian roots and personal experiences to create artwork that reflects life in the United States and East Africa. This often involves depictions of favorite family traditions, friends and personal heroes. Dyauli currently works in the Northrup King Building, as part of the Studio 400 Artist program with full support of mentors and artists from multiple disciplines. You can find his work at philipodyauli.com

Philipo elaborated on his artwork in Disquietude, an acrylic piece titled Come on in. The water’s fine. “My work primarily these days works on how our bodies interact with the space around us, especially black and brown bodies. This piece specifically is about water phobia within the black community, and African community, and explores the relationship between my siblings and I in an activity that usually is peaceful or fun. But with our experience of water, it kind of brings in different emotions when we’re next to water. A mix of joy, mix of fear. But I wanted to explore how the connection between our lack of experience with water–between me and my siblings– how that affects us in our life, and how that has been a barrier for the black community for a while. And mainly I wanted to explore also how the colors in the painting can be used as a tool. There’s very much a focus on the difference between the two: the background and the water, the flow of the water, the flow of the material, but also the focus on myself versus my siblings.”

Current Projects:

• Philipo will be participating in a fundraiser called “NEMAA 10 x 10.”
• You can find his paintings displayed at Wooden Hill Brewing.
• Philipo created artwork for the Cowles Center for Dance fundraiser that he will be selling signed prints for.