@ronanksm

On Love I remember hearing, or reading, that many people connote red with love, but in fact, love is blue. Love for me is a wave; it can stretch further than I can envisage; it can carry, hold, caress, make me feel weightless, anchor me. Love, the encompassing feeling of internal soothing, visible at the creases of one’s eyes when they crinkle as cheeks push up to make space for that smile that transports even the oldest person back to childhood. Yet, its lack, or the fear that arises at the pit of one’s stomach at the thought of the tide of love not coming back in, twists the soul into a dead weight, unable to catch enough air to float through the stronger waves, to re-find the gentle calming seas that await, always, after a moment of contrast. I realised a few years ago, my practice is my search for and examination of connection; to find a sense of place, belonging, a place to be loved, a place to explore how love is performed, shared and felt. In 2020 I founded HOME, and a year and a half later, I asked some of those who have held me afloat to gather, ahead of the opening of On Love – curated with my dear friend Joy Yamusangie – to share space with me, and allow me to celebrate and document them in the way most natural to me. I love you all. Photographed at @home_by_ronanmckenzie during On Love, curated by Ronan Mckenzie and Joy Yamusangie. Featuring the works of Abena Appiah, Alfie Kungu, Cece Philips, Claudette Johnson, Emma Prempeh, Jazz Grant, Joy Yamusangie, Layota Okuneye, Phoebe Boswell, Ronan Mckenzie, Sade Mica, Sola Olulode, Tanoa Sasraku, Toby Cato and Tonique Sewell. Thank you for working on this with me even though I kept adding more and more and more loved ones @ericjmcneal @michelle_boggs @stephanie_aelbrecht 🤎 Thank you always for the space Frances @luncheonmagazine 🤎