WOWO – BAGIRA

NEW SERIES

'WOWO'

I DON'T PAINT PEOPLE, I PAINT SOULS.

With WOWO, I stripped everything back to a single gaze.

This series of close-up eye paintings, each one imagined, yet strangely familiar, was born out of a desire to create smaller, more accessible works. But they still carry the emotional depth of my larger portraits.

Wowo means “eye” in Papiamentu. The word felt right, symbolizing the diversity of Curaçao and the layers of culture I carry with me.

Each piece explores something different. These are eyes of many kinds. The power of the eye is that it doesn’t need a full face to speak volumes, and you might still recognize someone in them.

'WOWO I '

900 XCG | 505 $

20 x 20 cm

Acrylic on Paper

Framed in black frame with passepartout

(SOLD)'WOWO II '

900 XCG | 505 $

20 x 20 cm

Acrylic on Paper

Framed in black frame with passepartout

'WOWO III '

900 XCG | 505 $

20 x 20 cm

Acrylic on Paper

Framed in black frame with passepartout

This series is deeply personal.. I grew up avoiding eye contact. My mother’s eyes were sky-blue, so clear they almost looked through you. Even now, looking someone directly in the eye can feel too overwhelming, too intimate. Maybe I just see too much?

But maybe that’s why I paint them now.To reclaim that space. To ask the questions I never could out loud. To start a conversation about what it really means to see, and be seen.

In my Algerian culture, the eye is also a protective symbol.
The blue eye, known as the ‘nazar’ is used across Algeria, the Middle East, and North Africa to ward off envy and protect against negative energy. I think WOWO holds a bit of that too, presence, protection, and quiet strength.

Every WOWO is a one-of-one. No copies. No prints.
And I don’t know how many I’ll make.
Maybe I’ll stop when I’ve found the answers I didn’t know I was searching for.