Playfully described by the artist as “Picasso in reverse”, Shonibare's African masks engage with the artist’s own identity as a ‘post-colonial hybrid’. This new body of work explores the relationship between African aesthetics and western modernist expression by recreating African masks from Picasso’s personal collection and adorning them with patterns that evoke Shonibare’s signature Dutch wax printed fabrics. Themselves appropriations of Indonesian batiks, which were remade by the Dutch and sold to the West African market, Dutch wax textiles exemplify the messiness of cultural origins that the artist seeks to highlight. As Shonibare explains, “Picasso was interested in appropriating from another culture, and I also appropriate from European ethnic art.” Challenging notions of cultural authenticity, Shonibare encourages a new conversation on diaspora within contemporary society.