Baminla Timothée Lambony

Baminla Timothy Lambony (originally from Lomé, Togo) is a multi-disciplinary artist whose interests include painting, graphic arts, music, theater and dance. In Globe Aroma’s studio, he currently focuses on painting.

Baminla’s work focuses on a personal research of materials and forms. He carries out studies on certain themes and materials. Only when he feels he has mastered the subject of his study does he concentrate on new research. It is a process that unfolds organically for him. However, what always comes back in his work are natural forms and uniform colors.

Baminla’s way of working came about when he placed his workspace on the side of a road to make his work public. This allowed him to reflect as an artist and evolve his work. He received, for example, advice from conversations he overheard on the street. However, the style he used at the time is not the one he wants to explore further. He noticed that he was making work with the viewer in mind, and that his research was no longer based on his own interests. This, however, prompted him to start over and over again and unearth a new questioning in his work.

Baminla’s research approach is also expressed in the different styles present in his work. In addition to paintings on canvas, he uses clothing as a support. In this way, their original function is erased and the garment is abstracted and becomes a painting.

Baminla’s work is somewhere between playful and engaging. His works alternate between a light study of form and a critical look at society. He criticizes, among other things, male violence and sexual abuse. For example, he uses ties to represent men attacking women.

In his work, it is perceptible that he asks himself if he is an engaged artist or not. Or rather, if one is  engaged, if one is necessarily only allowed to make engaged art. He wants to continue to enjoy painting. If one only paints heavy social themes in your work, one might get demotivated. His conclusion is that he still wants to incorporate the beauty of everyday life into his work, but that it doesn’t distract him from his engaged interests.

Besides his personal art practice, Baminla also organizes workshops at Globe Aroma to introduce less experienced people to drawing and painting.

This text was written following a conversation between Baminla Timothy Lambony and Elias Cafmeyer in 2022.