As a Nigerian-born visual artist who is self-taught, I have been blessed to be influenced by a range of creative inputs in my life.
As a Nigerian-born visual artist who is self-taught, I have been blessed to be influenced by a range of creative inputs in my life. I lived in Nigeria until I was 16 years old. As a child, music played a key role in my life as my father piped various genres of music through the speakers in each room of our home: music ranging from Bach and Beethoven to Boney M and Neil Sedaka. My father was also an avid art collector and my childhood home could easily have been mistaken for an expertly-curated art gallery with paintings from African art legends such as Bruce Onobrakpeya, Yusuf Grillo and Ben Enwonwu. I was exposed to a welcomed juxtaposition between western influences from my parents and traditional culture and expectations.
If God has a resume and I had to guess what his/her consistent job was, I would guess an Artist.
If God has a resume and I had to guess what his/her consistent job was, I would guess an Artist. It would take an artist to design everything in and around us: leaves, mountains, sea life, trees, rocks and of course, each human’s face, hands and body. My creation process always starts with a prayer asking God to inform and use my hands/eyes/paint to bring something forth from his/her heart. Various symbols are used in my art that have reference to my faith, for example people in a posture of worship, a group of three dots or triangles representing the Trinity.
My creation process always starts with a prayer asking God to inform and use my hands/eyes/paint to bring something forth from his/her heart.
I believe art is a conduit for healing and an expression of transformation. My goal through art is to always capture the emotions and observations around me in a way that questions logic and linear thinking. My use of multiple, and often bold, colors is an attempt to capture the complexity of foundational emotions which is sometimes lost or hidden.
© 2023 Osa the Artist