Finding and Loving Art
“I Am African & I Can” is a women’s empowerment blog that highlights stories of black women’s struggles and success.
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By Hadiatou Wann | 12/28/2018
As a young girl, Kadyatou Dembele habitually sat in the corner to watch her parents sketch or paint. The thrill of exploring art ascended and opened her imagination to endless creativity.
Dembele left her native country the Ivory Coast at the age of 16 and settled in Canada. Although she met many people in school, it was a challenge to find someone she could call bestfriend and share her joys and deepest secrets with. This feeling of loneliness pushed her to spend all of her spare time playing in a virtual world.
But it was the long hours she spent playing SIMS that made her tap into her artistic side. She wondered how the game was made and familiarized herself with the software and video editing. When she realized that she was talented enough to draw the things that she saw in the game, the game became more enjoyable for her.
In 2013, Dembele took a shot at drawing portraits of her friends, as she recalls “just to test how good” she was. Friends began recommending Dembele to draw celebrity faces that the average person could recognize. Her first order was from a Facebook friend who was very popular at the time. When he published the portrait of him that Dembele drew, everyone was amazed by the talent and questioned why the artist wasn’t known?
Dembele’s mother saw great potential in her craft and bought a canvas, pencils and all the tools she needed to get her feet wet in the art world. But it took a while for Dembele to see what people saw in her because she had a low self-esteem.
She began focusing on improving portraits. When different people sat across Dembele as she drew their faces on the canvas, one thing she noticed was that everyone didn’t seem as confident or powerful as they portrayed themselves to be. A silent room and still face made Dembele realize that everyone is going through the motions of life; she is neither superior nor inferior to anyone. “Art was medicine to heal my low self-esteem,” Dembele expressed.
“Drawing Portraits are very specific. You can have your own style, but you produce what you see,” the artist explained. The process of drawing portraits felt mundane because she was drawing faces over and over. She stopped doing portraits in 2017 and explored painting. Painting was a lot more exciting because there wasn’t any rules attached. She could sit down and let her creativity direct her.
Once she got comfortable with painting whatever she could imagine, she went back to doing portraits. But this time around, things were different. She was able to explore portraits in a way that she did not before. In order for her to master one skill, she had to learn a different skill and then go back to refine the foundation.
Dembele’s friend, Mory-Moussa Kamara, describes her: “Kady is someone I love so much for all that she is. Kady is first of all a big ball of energy. Both in her activities and with the people she loves. This is the person you will not forget if you speak to her once. She is a very dedicated and involved person in everything she does. When she starts one thing, be sure she will go all the way. That makes you think she is stubborn, but she’s just a passionate person who has the love of work well done. She is also sensitive, warm and loving.”
While living and working in Canada, Dembele knew that she didn’t want to be stuck in Canada forever, or work in an environment she felt detached from and unwelcomed. She knew that she would eventually ditch the 9-5 routine and opt for entrepreneurship.
In 2017, after receiving her Master’s in marketing from HEC Montréal, she moved back to Ivory Coast and started her own business called Ivorian Food. Ivorian Food is a content sharing platform with over 125,000 Facebook likes. It first kicked off as a blog, then a mobile app, and is now a content-generator for several brands, including Nestle.
She continued pursuing art when she moved to her native land, but noticed that compared to Canada, the “world of art is closed” in the Ivory Coast. There are less opportunities and people are likely to minimize your art if you didn’t attend art school.
Despite being an extraordinaire artist, Dembele is humble and still believes that she has more to learn. For as long as she has a canvas, she will continue to use her creativity to leave a mark in the world.
Welcome to Dembele’s World
Painting by Dembele
Painting by Dembele
“In painting there is more liberty. I enjoy it! Practicing portraits made me feel like I wasn’t using my creativity. I was producing the same thing over and over. It helped me develop skill, not creativity.”
“The everyday struggle for women inspire me. ”
Painting by Dembele
Painting by Dembele
Painting by Dembele
People viewing Dembele’s work at an art exhibition
People viewing Dembele’s work at an art exhibition
Portraits by Dembele
Portrait by Dembele
Portrait by Demebele
Portrait by Dembele
“I love food. I don’t stalk people, I stalk food.”
(L-R) Dembele’s mother, Dembele
“My mom inspires me. She sticks to what she believes in. She would never betray her values. Sometimes we think that she is old school, but in the end we realize that mommy was right all along.”
“In the business world, people believe in you based on how you are dressed. People think because I am young, I don’t know what I’m talking about. But once I start talking, they listen because they realize that I know my stuff.”
“Over time, I realized my value. So now I can share myself. I stopped hiding myself. I started sharing even personal matters. The more I shared, the more people connected with me and came to me for support. Sharing things with people broadened my view. It made me realize that it’s not always about me. ”
Connect with Dembele:
Facebook: Tatou Dembele
Instagram: @Tatoudembele
Twitter: @tatoudembele
Email: kadyatou.dembele@gmail.com
Website: tatoudembele.com
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