DOOFAN KWAGHHOOL

Doofan Kwaghhool was born in Kano and she grew up in Abuja, Nigeria. She loved drawing from child hood, as she drew on any surface she found; her siblings textbooks, on the walls of her home and on all her books. As she learnt to read and write, she was fascinated by comics, and she started to create her own comics. Her curiosity led her into exploring different themes and ideas through drawing, this exploration led her into adding sex scenes in her comic drawings while in Junior secondary school, this made the then, Vice principal Mrs Omanna to invite her parents to school and instructed them to stop her from drawing at home, she also instructed her class teacher to stop her from drawing and gave her corporal punishments in school. This put paid on her excessive personal drawing exercise in school which was the biggest obstacle Doofan faced in her creative story, as it changed her psyche and attitude towards drawing.

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But her relentless desire drove her to further study fine and Applied Art in FCT college of Education, Zuba, Abuja, in 2007. And in 2012 she obtained her first degree in Fine Arts from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Doofan is known for her colorfully abstracted works in water media. She prints texts on her painting using silkscreen or stencil techniques. The text in her works give clues to content, context, interpretation. Her works review psychological and socio-political themes. She is also a socially engaged artist, who creates happenings and participatory art project for the public on the street. According to her, "Grass root opinions are Organic", and she seeks fresh and exciting ways to make her art creating process very inclusive and practical as this helps drive home her ideas faster. Some of her projects include; Signs and Meaning (A participatory public art on road safety rules and regulations). She also teaches art in primary schools, studios and private homes. Doofan has participated in several art workshops, seminars group exhibitions and residences. She had her first solo exhibition at thought pyramid art gallery, Abuja, 2018. She has exhibited in Lagos, Delta, Abuja, New York, Johannesburg and Casablanca . Her works are in collections of collectors in Nigeria, Morocco, USA, Portugal, Belgium, London, Slovakia etc. She is also a member of the female artist association of Nigeria and the founder, Blueflames art studios.

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