Seven years after I left school in nineteen-eighty-nine, and the mandatory national youth service a year later, I criss-crossed three advertising agencies as a visual artist in different management positions. I got saturated by nineteen-ninety-seven with the blitz and illusions of the advertising world and left to answer my ultimate call, painting. Why do I want to paint, when I could have stayed back in advertising, happily ensconced by the position I had attained then, knowing that come what may, I am guaranteed my wage every month end. Beside the fact that I was born an artist, and went to school to nurture my talent, I needed another flexible platform to free my mind from the endless shackles of varied ideas that holds it hostage. I needed to challenge the limits of my artistic purpose. I create art to satisfy my whims, fulfil my emotions, and engage my moods and curiosity. Art impels me to continuously probe the exegesis of human actions. I am primarily a figurative artist. I am inspired by the human form and behaviour in close relation to their cultural synthesis. Figuration allows me to engage my viewers in an intimate dialogue that often resonates to their own personal experiences, thereby opening a window to their soul and giving them a sense of purpose. My works are experimental in nature. My inspiration as an artist keeps changing as I continue developing and searching for new ways to express my viewpoints. My themes and my style are elastic. There are strains though, that have been a constant in my works. Lines -implicit and explicit, texture, movement, heavy and extravagant application of colours embodies most of my paintings. Sometimes my images are manipulated to recede into the entire composition, creating a shroud of mystery which necessitates certain viewing distance for clarity. It allows my audience to be part of the creative process, thus, making their own additions and creating their own interpretations. Colours can breathe; they have a sensuous rhythm peculiar to them. They are pivotal in giving shapes, form, depth and texture to my compositions. Oil is my preferred medium. I often do my under-painting with acrylic, and then proceed with oil. The flexibility of oil allows me to manoeuvre and experiment with different textural density. Dancing, poetry, music and painting are all intertwined. I strive to temper an ambience of each into my paintings. Themes of celebration pervade my works. They afford me a pedestal on which I tend to capture the intensity of the human spirit. The impassioned female form presents me a sincere, yet, metaphoric analogy of the emotional complexities inherent in our psychological and socio-political environment. Some of my subjects and themes have equally remained constants. I see them in a new light each passing day, and they present me with limitless possibilities to explore and expand. Everyone has a distinct nuance, like the sound of our voice that characterises each of us. My art is my voice. It’s a mirror of my soul and my mind that are constantly in motion. My restlessness as a person reflects only in my art. Through my art, l celebrate our failures, our victories and our challenges
rom. Isichei, |
