Walthamstow, London Jun 19, 2025 (Issuewire.com) - Fine Artist Michael Iyaki Unveils “Surrounded by Devourers” — A Bold Artistic Statement on Inner Light, Spiritual Resilience, and Fashion Fusion
Michael Iyaki, a fine artist specializing in abstract paintings, draws inspiration from his West African background and delves into the spiritual experiences of humanity. His work seeks to foster dialogue within a community that understands and resonates with the profound messages behind his pieces. Through vibrant colors and dynamic forms, he expresses themes of identity, resilience, and connection, inviting viewers to engage with and appreciate not only his journey but also the individual experiences and diverse narratives that shape our shared human experience.
THE PLAN – SBD BRAND
Michael Iyaki is offering not only the opportunity to purchase the original oil on canvas painting “Surrounded by Devourers,” but also a 7% stake in the SBD clothing brand. This means that by acquiring the painting, you are also investing in a promising luxury fashion brand, entitling you to lifetime royalties that can enhance the value of the original artwork over time.
The Painting
Michael’s most recent painting, titled “Surrounded by Devourers,” represents a fusion of his passion for both art and fashion. The vision for this project is to create a clothing line inspired by this original work, showcasing the painting as an abstract piece that invites viewers to resonate with its message and engage in personal interpretation and critique. This initiative aims to build a community that follows the creative journey, ultimately allowing individuals to own unique pieces of themselves through the luxury designs crafted by his fashion brand.
Surrounded by Devourers – Original Oil on Canvas
The artist delves into the emotional and psychological landscape of what it means to protect one’s inner light in a world filled with consuming forces. At the centre of the work is a solitary figure, hunched forward, hands shielding his head not in surrender, but in a moment of quiet defence. This character, softly illuminated, represents the strength it takes to preserve one's essence amid chaos.
Iyaki surrounds this figure with ominous hands — dark, distorted, and reaching. These forms symbolise what he calls “the devourers”: the constant, often invisible pressures of society, relationships, and expectations that seek to drain the individual’s light. They hover just short of contact, a deliberate choice by the artist to reflect how these forces often erode us slowly through their presence, their noise, their demand for attention rather than through overt destruction.
This painting is a meditation on the delicate balance between generosity and self-preservation. He suggests that each person is born with a unique light — a source of compassion, talent, and worth — and that while this light can be shared, it must also be protected. Surrounded by Devourers is both a warning and a tribute: a warning against the silent theft of one's energy, and a tribute to those who manage to endure, to hold their light in the shadows.
With bold colour contrasts and visceral abstraction, the piece invites viewers to reflect on their own lives — on the forces they allow near, and the boundaries they draw to survive. In Iyaki’s hands, this is not just a painting — it’s a visual prayer for resilience.
Artist's Quote
“This work is a reminder to myself and to anyone who sees it that your light is sacred. Not everyone who reaches for it deserves to touch it.” — Michael Iyaki
Media Contact
Michael Iyaki *****@gmail.com +447951035524 26 Hessel street https://www.instagram.com/itsmichaeldrone/
