Crowned by the City by Rapheal Akano
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: Acrylic and charcoal on canvas
Dimensions: 36 x 48 in
Year: 2026
Status: available
Crowned by the City is a reflection on how environment and self intertwine—how we are shaped by where we come from, yet still rise to define who we are. Crowned by the City invites viewers into a dialogue between individuality and environment. Set against a vibrant, abstracted skyline, the central figure emerges as both subject and symbol—embodying strength, cultural pride, and modern identity. This piece stands as a celebration of presence—of being seen, rooted, and elevated. It challenges viewers to consider how identity is shaped not only by personal history but also by the cities we inhabit and the stories we carry within them.
Why collect this work?
An enlarged figure dominates a compressed skyline, turning the city from setting into a measure of her self-possession. Her towering braided form makes the title’s idea of being “crowned” spatial rather than literal.
- Akano’s profile describes a mixed-media practice concerned with identity, emotion and human connection. Here, that emphasis is concentrated in the figure’s direct sideways gaze and controlled, upright pose.
- In the photograph, the head and shoulders occupy most of the canvas while narrow buildings form a low, irregular band. The looping braids echo the skyline’s stacked silhouettes, linking personal presentation to urban structure without collapsing one into the other.
- The documented acrylic and charcoal allow two distinct pictorial registers: dense tonal modelling gives the skin and hair volume, while block-like buildings and a broadly worked blue ground remain flatter and more schematic.
- At 36 by 48 inches, this 2026 portrait sets an individual body against the visual shorthand of a city. It is a useful encounter for considering how scale can reverse the usual hierarchy between person and metropolis.
About the Artist
Rapheal Akano
Rapheal Akano is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: mixed-media. Based in Oyo, NG.
Nationality: Nigerian
Through art, I aim to communicate Beauty of African, emotion, identity, and the subtle details of human experience.
