A Practice-Based Study of Cracks as Visual Metaphor for Conceptualising Segregation in Painting

Abstract

This practice-based research investigates cracks as a visual metaphor for conceptualising ethnic and religious segregation in painting. Grounded in conceptual art and executed through extensive studio exploration, the study addresses a gap in the literature where cracks remain underexplored as symbolic devices for articulating social division in the Nigerian context. Employing qualitative, practice-based methods, the research progressed through five phases: representational exploration, linear exploration, mixed media exploration, mirror exploration, and site-specific installation. Data were collected through direct observation of wall cracks at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, supplemented by a contextual review and material experimentation with acrylic, fabrics, ropes, and shattered mirrors. Findings demonstrate that crack patterns function as a dynamic visual syntax for segregation,random flowing lines signifying violence, meandering lines denoting eroded trust, and crazing patterns representing systemic complexity. Mixed media and mirror works shifted the metaphor from representation to embodied experience, implicating viewers in fractured self-reflection. The final site-specific installation translated division into navigable space, making segregation tangible. The study concludes that cracks offer a rigorous, evolving visual language for interrogating social rupture, bridging abstract socio-political themes and tangible artistic expression. It contributes a methodological framework for artists engaging with themes of division, while affirming painting’s capacity to provoke critical dialogue on coexistence in fragmented societies.