Artist Biography
Gayi Eric Joe is a Ugandan contemporary artist born in Kampala and currently based in Entebbe, Uganda. His practice examines Black identity, cultural memory, and resistance through highly detailed ballpoint pen drawings that balance technical discipline with emotional depth.
Working primarily with ballpoint pen on paper, Joe employs a slow, repetitive, and meditative process. Through the accumulation of thousands of precise marks, he constructs dense surfaces where drawing becomes a method of reflection and inquiry. The use of the ballpoint pen, an everyday and widely accessible tool positions endurance, and repetition as central elements within the work. Personal experience and collective histories intersect in his drawings, forming visual narratives that consider social norms, systems of power, and visibility.
Joe’s work has received international recognition, including the Absa L’Atelier Award (2023) and the BIC Art Master of Africa Award (2021). He has participated in several group exhibitions, and his works are held in both private and institutional collections.
His debut solo exhibition, Breaking the Norms, marked a key moment in the development of his practice. The body of work was informed by personal experience and broader cultural references, examining Afro hair as a site of identity, continuity, and negotiation within professional and social spaces. Rendered predominantly in deep blues and blacks, the drawings feature figures layered with subtle honeycomb-like structures that suggest tension, containment, and resilience.
Beyond the studio, Joe engages wider audiences through his platform, contributing to ongoing conversations around race, beauty, identity, and power. His practice operates at the intersection of the personal and the political, using drawing as a sustained and critical form of expression.
Artist Statement - Eric Joe Gayi
My work explores Black identity through the lens of Afro hair, a symbol of heritage,resistance, and personal truth. Using ballpoint pen on paper, I create detailed portraits that speak to the tension between self-expression and societal conformity. Each piece takes hours to complete, layered through hatching techniques that mirror the quiet persistence required to exist authentically in spaces that often demand erasure.
The figures in my work are both real and symbolic. Blue bodies represent those who alter their hair for acceptance, while black figures, textured with surreal honeycomb patterns, reflect those who remain natural and are met with discomfort or rejection. These dualities speak to the psychological impact of colonial legacies and Eurocentric beauty standards.
My relationship with Afro hair is deeply personal, I was once denied a job because of mine. Perceived as irresponsible, an experience that ignited this series and strengthened my commitment to affirming Black identity without apology. Through my art, I reclaim Black narratives and create space for dialogue, pride, and healing.