Frida Orupabo »Daily Encounters«

Orupabo’s latest body of work centres on the recurring theme of uneventful chores, doctor’s visits, the simple act of petting a cat, or a child presenting a school drawing. Yet, within these seemingly quiet moments, the artist embeds sharp instances of friction: an unwanted hand, an invasive medical examination, or a letter from a boss. Even the figures at rest are charged — one is “Ill at Ease,” another holds a knife in bed, while a third lies seductively with a Barbie doll.

Orupabo collapses the boundaries between high art and popular culture. She merges illustrations from children’s books and modern art history, combining heroines like Pippi Longstocking, Marte (from a 1978 Norwegian publication), and Buzzy Boop with elements from Milton Avery, Marisol, and Jan Håfström, among others. These are layered further with fragments from eBay erotica, creating complex "alter egos" for the Black women within — a Dadaesque camouflage navigating the machinations of everyday life.

"I am fixated on the small happenings—those experiences you live through repeatedly or just once—that shape and change us," Orupabo says. "Depending on who is looking, these everyday situations are recognized and linked to lived experiences of gender, class, and race."

Described by the artist as "a knife hidden in a smile," the works in Daily Encounters investigate the intersection of the public and private spheres. By freezing these repetitive moments, Orupabo asks: What stories are told at the doctor’s office or the grocery store? And how do these fragments of life fit into the larger discourses of our time?