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How do you describe a person who was so many different things to so many people from all over the world?

To most of us, she is known as a great artist of course, but there was so much more to Susanne Wenger and her life.

In the middle of
the First World War, she was born in Graz, a town in Southern Austria.
From a very early age, Susanne was drawn to nature and spent a lot of
her time in the woods and mountains around the town.

Her artistic
journey began at the College for Arts and Crafts in Graz where she
started by experimenting with different techniques such as drawings in
pencil, ink and crayon, ceramic works and clay sculptures.

She then moved to
Vienna where she spent four years at the Academy of Art and lived
through the horror of the city during the occupation, the war, and
finally the liberation. Susanne refused to accept the Nazi regime and
helped to hide Jewish friends and other people listed by the Nazis as
“unwanted”. Her art was considered “degenerate” by the regime and she
was forbidden to paint but found refuge in books about eastern
religions and far away countries.

During the nights
when the bombs fell on Vienna, she was haunted by dreams which she put
on paper during the day – surreal picture-worlds born of fear and
despair. These are now regarded by the “experts as “the first surreal
works of art by an Austrian painter”.

Artistic Freedom

The role of modern
artists during the Second World War was the subject of an exhibition in
Graz in 2001 ‘Moderne In Dunkler Zeit’ (‘Modern Art In Dark Times’)
which paid special tribute to the efforts of Susanne Wenger, the only
surviving artist of the period, for maintaining human values, risking
her own life, and helping others against the regime.

In 1946, she was a
founding member of the Art Club in Vienna, an international association
proclaiming “the right for artistic freedom”. Its centre was in Rome,
with branches in Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, France, Israel, South Africa,
Holland, Turkey, Uruguay, and Austria. Its chairman was Pablo Picasso,
then thought of as the embodiment of the “horror” of the modern art
movement.

After recovering
from a serious fall into a lift shaft just before the end of the war,
she travelled to Rome and Sicily in spring 1948 and later that year to
Zurich and Paris.

In Paris, Susanne
was attracted by the bohemian life and artistic circles with their
intellect and critical attitude. Here, for the first time in her life,
she could paint happily, free of troubles and restrictions.

She met Ulli Beier
in Paris, who at the time was working with handicapped children and had
just accepted a posting at the University of Ibadan. They got married
(using a pair of curtain rings as wedding rings) and set off for
Nigeria, driving across North Africa, the Atlas Mountains, and the
Sahara Desert before arriving in Ibadan in early 1950.

Yoruba Religion

After spending a
couple of years in the university compound, the couple moved to Ede
where Susanne met the Obatala Priest, Ajagemo, who became her mentor,
“guru” and great friend. After a long process of learning not only a
new and very different language, but also gaining knowledge about the
complexities and spiritual dimensions of the Yoruba Religion and its
traditions, she was initiated as a priestess.

After 4 years, they
moved to the village of Ilobu, where Susanne was further integrated
into the Yoruba culture. This is where she painted vivid pictures
echoing the experiences she had had during her apprenticeship and
initiation.

In Ilobu, she also
learned the ancient technique of Adire – where cassava starch is used
to create patterns on material, which is then dyed in indigo. Using
this technique, she started painting interpretations of Yoruba
mythology on pieces of cloth stitched together to create huge
monochrome canvasses.

1958 brought
another important turn in her life. Having moved, with Ulli Beier, to
the beautiful old stone house built in the Brazilian style on Ibokun
Road in Oshogbo, where she was going to spend the rest of her life, she
was asked by a high ranking priest to help restore an important shrine.
Together with a few local craftsmen, she started rebuilding the shrine
known as “Idi Baba” which is located away from the Groves on the road
to Ibokun.

Restoration of Osun Grove

This was the
beginning of what would become Susanne Wenger’s most important artistic
achievement. In more than 40 years of continuous work she not only
created the sacred shrines, monumental sculptures, and statues for
which the Groves are now famous, but she also managed to defend this
area of unspoilt forest from the encroaching town, from determined
farmers who wanted to cut down the trees for farmland, and from
poachers who wanted to hunt there. At one stage, Susanne said they
wrapped white bed-sheets around the large trees to save them from being
cut down.

The first
restoration project within the Sacred Groves was the shrine dedicated
to the goddess of the River Osun, the ‘Waters of Life’. This shrine,
‘Ojubo Osun’, had been destroyed by termites, and some people had
already started on repairs when Susanne was asked by the Osun priestess
for help. Slowly, inspired by Susanne’s example, the local woodcarvers,
blacksmiths, carpenters, and bricklayers began to develop their own
artistic potential.

Adebisi Akanji, who
had mastered the technique of cement sculpture, passed this knowledge
on to Susanne and was most important and instrumental in the subsequent
building of the monumental sculptures and structures.

Kasali Akangbe was
responsible for most of the scaffolding and wooden roof structures but
he is also one of the acclaimed woodcarvers who, together with Buraimoh
Gbadamosi, created most of the woodcarvings in the Groves. Examples of
Kasali’s remarkable carvings, as large doors and pillars can be found
at the new extension to the Bogobiri Hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos; and at the
Theatre in-the-round established by the late Barbara Anne Teer in
Harlem, New York, as well as in numerous private art collections.

Buraimoh Gbadamosi
is also a stone carver and is best known for his stone figures of
“Earth-spirits” – or as Susanne called them “Kiliwis”. These artists
are amongst the nucleus of the New Sacred Art Movement that Susanne
nurtured.

After the Oshun
shrine was completed, many others followed: “Iledi Ontotoo”, the
“Obatala shrine complex”, the impressive “Iya Mopoo”, the majestic
“Ela” and many more.

Metaphysical snapshots

Whilst the work in
the groves was going on, at home in her atelier, she developed a
technique that was a mixture of textile-painting, wax batik and indigo
dye. This is how she created her impressive batiks – some of which
measure 7 by 3.5 metres!

The themes of these
cloth paintings, are again, stories from Yoruba mythology, which in her
own words: “present a sort of metaphysical snapshot”.

Between 1952 and
1970, Susanne also illustrated and designed books by Yoruba authors and
wrote children’s books, both in English and Yoruba, and also
contributed to the legendary Black Orpheus Magazine, which was founded
by Ulli Beier.

In the mid 1960s,
she once again took up oil painting and as there was no canvas
available, she painted on plywood panels from old tea chests. During
this period, her paintings covered a wide span of themes from the
history of mankind, the Bible, world literature and environmental
issues as well as themes from Yoruba mythology. Unlike the monumental
sculptures in the groves or the large batiks, her oil paintings express
her philosophy on a relatively small canvas, but they are just as
powerful.

Sacred Art

Susanne was a very
spiritual and religious person, religious in a sense that has nothing
to do with following a doctrine or script but with the acceptance of a
different, mystical dimension that is inherent in all that exists. In
her own words: “creative thinking and art are not measurable since they
are testimony of the truth, and this truth, the only truth, has many
faces. Who can count the faces of truth? All religions are ultimately
“the religion of mankind”. Art is ritual.”

From the mid 1980s,
Susanne Wenger had many important exhibitions in Europe, the first
marked her 70th birthday in 1985 and brought her art back to Vienna for
the first time in 35 years.

Ten years later,
the Kunsthalle Krems staged a large retrospective exhibition in the
Minoritenkirche, which included works from the Nigerian New Sacred Art
Movement.

Her hometown, Graz, then followed with an exhibition in 2004, ‘Along the Banks of a River in Africa’.

Other venues
included Prague in 1992, Bayreuth in 1993, Gmunden in 2001 and in the
same year she took part in the exhibition staged by Okwui Envezor, ‘The
Short Century – Independence and Liberation movements in Africa
1945-1994′, which was shown in Munich, Berlin, Chicago, New York.

Her work in the
groves, her involvement in the Yoruba Traditions, her paintings,
drawings and batiks found international acclaim and Susanne met people
from all over the world and corresponded regularly with a large number
of friends. I remember coming back from Oshogbo with a wad of envelopes
to be posted for her. Those of course were the days when the only
working telephone was in a neighbour’s house, computers, emails and
mobile phones were things of the future and months-old newspapers and
magazines the only source of news from Europe.

Extended family

Besides all this,
she still found enough time to dedicate herself to her growing
“extended family”. She was entrusted by one of the last truly great
Osun Priests, Layi Olosun, to bring up most of his children. One of
those children is Doyin Faniyi; Susanne also adopted Sangodare
Gbadegesin Ajala at the age of five. Sangodare is a prolific batik
artist, known to use up to 30 colours, often giving a stained-glass
effect to his large wall-hangings. He recently won the National Art
Competition and is due to follow-up with exhibitions in the UK and the
Netherlands.

Faniyi and
Sangodare are now very significant personalities in the hierarchy of
Yoruba Tradition and are dedicated to the protection and preservation
of Susanne’s legacy. They are also key members of the New Sacred Art
Movement.

Over the decades,
many more children grew up in her home in Ibokun Road and many friends
and fellow artists have found support and help within its walls. One
way of supporting the emerging artists of the New Sacred Art Movement
was to buy their work, which Susanne did, and these pieces now form the
mainstay of her substantial private collection of traditional but
mainly modern Nigerian art. This collection was documented in a recent
publication by the ‘Adunni Olorisha Trust: Susanne Wenger, her House
and her Art Collection’.

Incidentally, her
own works are nearly all in Austria, with art curator Wolfgang Denk, to
whom Suzanne had given them, to be preserved as a complete collection,
not for sale. They are now held in trust and are to be housed for
posterity at a purpose built museum/gallery in Krems funded by the
Austrian Government, which will open in March. As recently as two years
ago, the collection was being considered for a spot-light at the famous
Venice Art Biannale. Occasionally, the few examples of her works in
private hands do find their way on to the international art market,
such as the Bonhams exhibition and art auction of African works last
year in New York.

Her death has not
only left an empty chair at her favourite spot along the river, it has
also left us with the enormous task of preserving her legacy.

Looking back, these
are only some of the many things Susanne Wenger was: the student, the
activist and resistance fighter, the survivor, the traveller, the wife,
the drop out, the apprentice, the teacher, the sponsor, the
environmentalist, the animal lover and protector, the matriarch, the
friend, the philosopher and above all, the artist.

She was all this –
and more – and there is only one thing Susanne Wenger most certainly
was not: a materialist. Money to her was a means to an end but not
something she ever wanted for herself.

She lived a remarkable life and made a remarkable contribution to Nigeria and the world. May her legacy be preserved.

Sade Adu is
arguably Nigeria’s most successful musician; having sold over 60
million records; and with two Grammy awards to show for her efforts as
an entertainer, songstress and bandleader.

Born on the January
16, 1959 in Ibadan, Oyo-State, she first came to the limelight in 1984
when her band ‘Sade’, comprising musicians Andrew Hale, Stuart
Mathewman and Paul Denman released their debut album ‘Diamond Life’.
The album came packed with hit tracks such as ‘Smooth Operator’, ‘Hang
on to your Love’ and ‘Your Love Is King’. The band won a Grammy award
in the Best New Artist category in 1985. Her impressive career received
another boost in 1986 when she released ‘Promise’, which had the
worldwide hit single ‘The Sweetest Taboo’, making her and the band the
largest selling debutant of British origin. She is the most successful
solo female artist in British history; and was one of the iconic
performers of the historic Live Aid concert, held at Wemble Stadium in
1985.

In 1992, she
released the album ‘Love Deluxe’ that included tracks such as No
Ordinary Love. The year 1994 saw the release of ‘The Best of Sade’, a
compilation of hit singles produced by the songstress and her band over
the years. After an eight-year hiatus she came out with ‘Lover’s Rock’
(2000), which won a Grammy for “Best Vocal”. Her latest effort,
‘Soldier of Love’, released last year, has enjoyed a huge success,
despite the fact that nothing had been heard from Sade in recording
terms for a decade. ‘Soldier of Love’ topped the music charts in 14
countries, selling 1.5 million copies worldwide in its first week of
release, 500,000 of it in the US alone, where the singer is revered as
an inimitable icon, especially among the Hip-Hop community.

Sade has insisted
that she is not in a hurry to release albums after album. “I only talk
when there’s something to be said,” she once remarked. She was honoured
with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II, in
2002. Her visit to the palace to receive the medal, is reputed to be
the last public appearance made by the famously reclusive singer whose
allure and mystique never seems to wane.

Sade was well
connected with her roots in Ikere- Ekiti until the demise of her
father, Bisi Adu, a professor of Economics in 1986. Her mother Anne
Hayes was an English nurse. The young Sade and her elder brother Banji
were relocated to England by their mother when the relationship between
the parents broke down. Thus the future Grammy award winner grew up in
rural England, Essex to be precise, in the South East. She came
face-to-face with racism, and learnt how defend herself with jabs of
her own.

Her successful
musical career has been at variance with her private life. Her marriage
to the Spanish film director Carlos Pliego ended in the mid nineties;
she had her only childer, Ila, with Jamaican songwriter Bob Morgan in
1996. Sade now lives in the English countryside with Ian Watts, a
former Royal Marine. She told the British press last year that her
mother introduces Watts as “‘Sade’s current boyfriend’, like he was on
a conveyor belt, or something.”

As Sade turns 52 today Sunday, January 16, 2011, this is a worthy tribute to Nigeria’s greatest gift to Rhythm and Blues.

Last week’s group
of ten on the Nigerian Idol showcased some of the best contestants the
show has so far presented, which is somewhat tricky, considering that
only two will get to stay. At least five were unquestionably superb.

The contestants
have gotten better each week with undeniably powerful voices, but a lot
still needs to be done in the area of stage presence. Only one or two
managed to pull off a convincing interpretation of the songs they were
given to sing. Adetoun who rendered a Whitney Houston number, ‘I Have
Nothing’, in her beautiful alto, performed it more like a war song,
instead of the heartfelt plea that it was supposed to be.

For some weird
reason, Chioma who sang Toni Braxton’s ‘Unbreak My Heart’ was
horrendously off-key despite her strong voice. My favourites were
Kesiena, Amaka, Rachel and Emmanuel. Kesiena sang Chris De Burgh’s
‘Lady in Red’ and managed to get Audu Maikori, who once admitted to
hating the song, to suddenly fall in love with it. He also displayed
great control over what could have easily been a passable voice,
moulding it around the song and came out sounding better than some of
the others who had more classic voices.

Rachel simply put
sent shivers down my spine with a tune made popular by Shirley Bassey.
Once again, Yinka Davies’ ear for jazz and the blues, a genre in which
she has managed to distinguish herself, was once again displayed as she
gave kudos to contestants who managed to pull off songs in this genre.
Leonard’s performance of Frank Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me To Moon’ song threw
Davies into a state of orgasmic laughter after which she declared her
love for the dapper young man.

After witnessing this bevy of talents, it felt kind of sad to know
that their fate lies in the hands of voters and no longer the judges.
With this particular group of ten, it would have been better that the
judges choose the two that got to carry on. Seeing from the past weeks,
the contestants with the best voices/performances often do not get to
move further up in the contest. Nina and Emmanuel triumphed in the
viewers’ votes and will now join the top ten. Hopefully, the best
voices will make it through this week.

The Lagos State
Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) on January 8 held
a book reading in memory of Adolphus Amasiatu, a poet who died recently
from the complications of a spinal cord injury sustained in an accident
about two years ago.

Members of ANA
Lagos turned up to honour their comrade; and while some had penned a
few lines in dedication to the departed, poems were also read from the
late poet’s last collection of poetry, ‘Verses by Post’.

The late Amasiatu,
who in addition to being a poet, was a soldier in the Nigerian Army,
wrote the poems in the collection like letters to his wife while he was
on the battlefield; her replies were also documented in the same format.

Unknown soldiers

According to Dagga
Tolar, chair of the Lagos chapter of ANA, the work comes from the
Amasiatu’s background as a soldier. Some of the poems smack of
nostalgia and homesickness from being away from home and longing to
return.

“When soldiers go
to war and die, their commanders accept the victories of the war. The
dead soldiers are tagged as unknown. Amasiatu is saying unknown
soldiers should be recognised. He identifies himself as one of them. He
also calls himself a soldier of the pen”, said Tolla, commenting on one
of Amasiatu’s poems.

Another ANA member,
the poet Austin Njoku, also read from ‘Verses By Post’. Commenting on
one piece that had a tone of foreboding, Njoku said it was uncanny how
some writers unknowingly predict their own end in their works.

Njoku said Amasiatu
was always proud to be identified as a writer, and preferred that
identification over being a soldier, because he eventually left the
army. “However, he has left us with something to remember him by,”
Njoku said.

Tolar’s poem ‘No
More Broke Heart’, dedicated to the late Amasiatu, was laden with anger
and frustration at the leadership of the nation and its unconcern
towards the citizenry. He stated that it is ridiculous the kinds of
needless deaths that occur regularly up and down the country. “People
die from fuel inhalation, generator blasts and potholes”, he lamented.

Writers’ welfare

Another member put
ANA under scrutiny, asking what provisions are being made to assist
members who fall into such misfortunes. “Being in a wheelchair is a
tough situation,” observed Tolu Ajayi. “We don’t have the facilities in
this country for such situations.” He reminded the meeting of author
Chinua Achebe, also in a wheelchair, who had to relocate to the US
after the accident that left him paralysed.

A past president of
the chapter, Folu Agoi, read a piece by the late poet that talks about
corruption in the army and the nation. Also at the meeting was Margaret
Aninyei who said that, “With the pen we can fashion the destiny of our
country. We can write to enable vision for our younger generations.”

Tolar eulogized
Amasiatu, saying, “Adolphus was a successful journalist, soldier and
lawyer. In spite of this, he still had time to write. There is no
excuse not to write because the works might become the only monument to
record all that the writer has done.”

He added that excuses about the absence of publishers and the problem of electricity are no longer tenable.

“This is a key
lesson,” he said, holding up the book. “Because of this, Amasiatu is
not dead. We must put pride on our literature. I think we should
challenge ourselves, break the barriers to get our works out, because
they will become a monument.”

Adolphus Amasiatu was born in 1971. In addition to his poems, he
published a collection of short stories titled ‘Return of the Last
Platoon and Other Stories’.

Omo Uwaifo is an
engineer by profession, but he’s better known in some circles as a
writer and lover of everything literary. He recently intervened in the
arts life of Lagos by introducing ‘The Foxhole’, a place for writers to
commune and share their works.

The Edo State born
Uwaifo, still passionate and active at 78, joined the Electricity
Corporation of Nigeria (ECN) as it was known, in 1954, before leaving
in 1973 to set up his own firm.

“When I was nine,
in the evenings, I’d sit down and tell folk stories and people would
gather around me. As a young boy, my teacher would take me to Standard
One to teach the students spellings”, said Uwaifo, recalling how and
when his literary interest began.

Edo literate

Uwaifo, who edited
the book, ‘Edo Cultural Voyage’ and whose work has been translated into
Edo language, said, “In those days, we read Edo language for the first
four years in school. I was very Edo literate.”

Uwaifo is quite
concerned about the affairs of the nation and this passion spills over
into his writing and the unmistakable tone of anger and exasperation
can be felt in his works. His articles for the Vanguard Newspaper were
published in a collection as ‘That Nigeria May Survive’.

His novel, ‘The
Fattening House’ published in 2001, and ‘Litany’, a collection of
poems, were shortlisted in 2004 and 2009 respectively for the Nigeria
Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG)-sponsored Nigeria Prize for Literature.

On both occasions,
none of the three works on the shortlist, including Uwaifo’s, were
awarded the prize, much to the chagrin of many. Uwaifo jokes that he
will no longer participate in any more awards as it seems no one is
winning awards because of him.

He launched his latest poetry volume, ‘Before the Golden Jubilee’, in 2010.

“It is essentially what I think about Nigeria,” the writer says of the collection.

The Foxhole

Uwaifo believes
writing is one of the ways he can make his voice heard with the hope
that he, like many other voices crying out for change, will be paid
attention to. In the same vein, he opened ‘The Foxhole’ on December 16,
2010. The venue has already hosted the 50th birthday reading for Uzor
Maxim Uzoatu, author of ‘God of Poetry’.

Uwaifo calls, The
Foxhole, located in the grounds of his Maryland, Lagos residence, his
own contribution to young writers. A foxhole is some sort of hideout
which soldiers at war use as shelter from their enemy and also to fire
back at their enemies.

“It is a private
place where writers may come together to voice their concerns or fears
of a wilting society; or to discuss the hopes and promises of an
emerging nation – her plays, songs inventions, and contributions to the
development of the human race,” he states.

The Foxhole itself
is a thatched dome-like head attached to a rotund body. It sits in the
midst of a grassy landscape, which is receiving much attention from
Uwaifo and his gardeners. The scenery is as yet incomplete as the
flowers are still being planted and a couple of trellises to aid the
climbing flowers have just been set up.

‘You don’t have to go to the island’

Uwaifo says writers
do not have to rent the MUSON Centre or any other fancy Island venue
for their book readings or literary gatherings, now that The Foxhole
has been set up.

“Anyone can come in
here and they do not have to pay anything. All that is necessary is
that we should be given some notice prior to the event so that we can
prepare the place,” Uwaifo states.

He adds that for a
gathering of about ten, there are cushions which can be set up on the
floor. However, for larger gatherings ranging from 60 to 70, there are
chairs that can be set up to fit the rotund shape of the structure,
while the speaker or individual addressing the audience can stay in the
middle.

Also, with the serenity of the environment and the
audience-proximity which The Foxhole affords, no microphones or
speakers will be required.

Our teenage
daughter, Ominira, and I have a complicated relationship. We love each
other and we are in constant communication about stuff. Our
conversations are usually in the form of random questions. I remember
when Ominira first introduced me to Facebook. Well, I was loitering
around our house; I had come home a bit early from work hoping to spend
some quality time with Ominira. She slunk into the house from school
muttering to herself, something about when it would be appropriate to
drop out of school, when she spied me in the living room.

She immediately
stopped like an American deer that just spied a cutlass-wielding
Nigerian. “Daddy, why are you here?” she asked. ‘Enh?” I responded, “I
live here! Is that okay?” Then, “Daddy, are you in an arranged marriage
with mommy?” ‘Enh?” I asked, feeling really, really, really faint.
“Where did that come from?” “Well, my friend, O-K, said his parents are
in an arranged marriage; that is why they hate each other!” My wife and
I love each other.

O-K is really
Okechukwu, yes, these children in America, they reject their African
names. Ominira has a three letter word for the name that my father gave
her, a beautiful name with meaning thus: “I sent my wayward son to
America to make millions of dollars, he has failed woefully at that. I
guess a female child is also good, a son would be nice! Sniff!” Our
other daughter was named “Kindness will not kill me in this village of
Unokas who borrow money but refuse to repay their benefactors. A son
would be nice!” My father uses my children’s names to express stress.
Our first son came after the two girls and my father danced for many
days on occasion of the birth of a SON before giving the kid this name:
“AT LAST! AT LAST! MY SON HAS PRODUCED A WORTHY SUCCESSOR TO MY GREAT
THRONE! A BOY! AT LAST!! NOW I CAN DIE!” Today, our son calls himself
Ike, as in Ike Eisenhower! Ingrate!

O-K had shared his
suspicion that his parents are in a stressful loveless marriage that
was arranged for them by their “tribes” back home. O-K has exactly
5,000 very inquisitive amebo friends who each have 5,000 very
inquisitive amebo friends, who each have 5,000 very inquisitive amebo
friends. You can see where I am going with this. Be very afraid of your
children. Do not, I repeat, do not tell them anything. For verily,
verily, I say onto you, their friends, and their friends’ friends, and
their friends’ friends’ friends will find out on Facebook.

The other day, my
wife and I were having date night in the family room which really
involves chomping on roasted plantain and stale groundnuts from home
while watching a nice Nigerian movie with a great title like WHO ARE
MY? (Heh! Heh! Heh! Heh! Ikhide, stop!). Well, Ominira our daughter
sauntered into the room and announced casually, “Mummy! Daddy!! Auntie
Kehinde is dying!!” This terrible piece of information ruined our
entire date, and we took turns yelling at Ominira for not giving us the
home phone when the horrible news came. Ominira calmly assured us after
rolling her eyes and texting “smh” to her friend, that she does not
know what a home phone is plus the news is all over Facebook. When my
lover asked what “Bookface” was, she was quickly corrected with several
eye rolls and teenage put-downs. It was only the threat of police
intervention that prevented my wife from dispatching Ominira to the
great beyond. Be very afraid of your children. They are talking about
you. On Facebook.

So I am on
Facebook, I don’t really know why. I do like that I can surround myself
with only non-jerks, real people who really love me, even when I say
inappropriate stuff, which is all the time. Who needs the stress of
hearing the truth from bad belle prophets? I am a dictator in my corner
of Facebook; if you do not “like” what I have to say, you are gone. My
two favourite words on Facebook are “like” and “LOL!”

The first time I tried to get on my daughters’ Facebook accounts as
their friends, they laughed so hard, I thought they were going to have
a heart attack. Then they threatened to report me to the Police for
stalking and other crimes. Well, about a year ago they added me because
I told them I was going to Nigeria to visit my relatives. Their Social
Studies teacher, a Nigerian, had told them that Africa was a place of
darkness, where a lot of bad things happen and people get robbed,
stabbed, murdered, etc, like in Washington DC. They wanted to monitor
my movements since I was going to be on Facebook in Africa (yes,
Nigeria is Africa!) via my Blackberry. They didn’t want to miss
anything in case I got shot. They also asked for copies of my life
insurance. I came back alive. They were happy to see me. I think.

Why Art?

Art is the way I
express myself. For me, it’s the language that I speak and it’s what
makes me feel the most connected to my soul. Seeing people connect with
what I create is what makes the process all the more special.

Training

I graduated from
the University of Benin with a degree in Fine Arts. Upon moving to the
United States, I continued my education at Georgia State University.
Though I have had some formal art training, much of my development has
come through practice, traveling, and studying the works of the artists
I admire.

Medium

Oil is my preferred
medium because of its richness, but I also work with several other
mediums as I am always looking to improve my skill by experimenting
with new materials and methods.

Influences

To date, my father
has had the biggest influence in my life and in my career as an artist.
The many times I felt discouraged about making a career from my art, he
was always there to encourage me.

Inspirations

I am inspired by my
environment – the beauty and its complexity are evident in my work. My
paintings strive to depict visual tales of emotion, mood, colour,
movement, form, textures, and other elements. My experiences and
interactions with these elements can be interpreted and translated best
when they are depicted on canvas.

Best work so far

Each piece
communicates something different that’s very meaningful to me. I am
always on a quest to produce works that will resonate even deeper than
the last piece, so I tend not to get too attached to my paintings.

Least satisfying work

I am very critical
of everything that I do, but I have found that what I find the least
satisfying is what someone else will find the most intriguing. I
believe every work I create will fulfill a purpose for someone and
that’s satisfying to me.

Career high point

Getting the
opportunity to exhibit my work alongside some of the world’s most
recognised artists and being named as one of ‘Today’s Top Artists’ in
July 2007, by Art Business News are accomplishments that I am very
proud of.

Winning the SOLO
Award at the International Artexpo New York in 2006 is also an
accomplishment that I am proud of because my work was singled out in
the midst of hundreds of other great works.

Favourite artist, living or dead

Pablo Picasso – I
am inspired by him because of his ability to be a multi-dimensional
artist. He was able to break away from the norm and create his own
style of painting.

Jackson Pollock –
He is an inspiration to me because of all of his accomplishments during
his short life. Pollock created the unusual technique of pouring and
dripping paint on canvas which is known to be the origin of the term
‘action painting’.

Ambition

Besides continuing
to create works that will inspire people, I would love to make art more
accessible to people by partnering with organisations that support this
cause. In recent years, I partnered with some of these organisations,
including The National Gallery of Art (NGA).

In collaboration with the NGA, I facilitated the sponsorship of a
few Nigerian artists and provided them the opportunity to exhibit their
work at the International Artexpo, New York and Las Vegas. This is a
wonderful experience for the artists involved and it has pioneered the
way for an annual Artexpo in Nigeria.