Artist Bio

In my childhood days, I was a regular weekend visitor to my father's merchandise office in Sabo, an exclusive area in Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria, where in adjourning streets, aboriginal cultural artefacts and sculptures where and, is still one of the most highly priced articles of trade. As luck would have it, these cultural objects later on came to play a big part in my depiction and stylization of an austere figurative composition. Being partly melancholy, my desire towards creativity has always remained strong. such sight seeing and deep observation of my immediate environment planted the seed of artistic exploration from early age. As nature will perfect its work, providence placed a sign writer directly opposite my mother's dressmaking workshop who inadvertently adopted me as a 'kid art apprentice'. My mum bought me drawing kits and I've never looked paid much attention to other hubbies that catches the attention of boys my age. As a unique experience therefore, this sign writer's studio of many colors and my mother's work on vivid multi-patterned fabrics, no doubt had a profound influence on me as a growing child. My love for "scrambled abstraction, geometry, vibrant colors and overall design abilities" were developed during these early years. Through my artworks, people see the true version of authentic African narratives far apart from what has been scripted and fed to them through news and popular propaganda since the end of colonialism. My work among other things gives significant attention to women emancipation, it pays homage to my Yoruba heritage, social cultural experimentation of African people vis-à-vis their unique reactions to 21st century globalization, and more so, it is a consistent documentation of my first hand experiences about all of human constants negotiation with developments and events. We humans are simply a witty instrument in the hands of time. These art pieces are best suited for homes and spaces where great minds must be reawaken time after time. As one of the exponent of modern contemporary African art, I work along two broad representational styles; a calm academic realism and, a more expressive abstract composition that are inspired by contemporary topics. My attempt is to bring an original peculiar sense of symbolism and spectacle to the ethereal portraits I mindfully conjure up. My Coptic art approach is well embraced by both art collectors and fellow artists within the art circle. Its a blend of similarities within the wooden art objects of aboriginal people of sub Saharan Africa, to Egyptian wall reliefs and Ethiopian paintings. However, I express my thought through paintings and with the technique of soft impasto application of acrylic on textured canvas.