Please provide a brief introduction of yourself as well as your current involvement in the arts?
I am a multi-disciplinary creative practitioner and researcher working across the mediums
of design, photography, and moving image. I am a recent graduate of Design for Art
Direction at University of The Arts London: London College of Communication, for which I received a First Class Honours. I was shortlisted for the Peter Cannings Memorial Award 2021 and prior to attending UAL, I participated in various programmes and awards such a
Lambeth YLSC course on Entrepreneurialism, where I was awarded the prize for “The
Way With Words”. I have also been awarded first place in a Shutterstock design competition.
I am operating as a freelancer and delivering artworks for clients who include small businesses, artists, and musicians. I offer and deliver a range of services such as logo
design and visual branding, product packaging design, album cover work, and social
media content design. I also produce tufted rugs on a commissions basis.
How did your love for Arts come about?
I started a small-scale independent magazine called JIGGY when I just turned 17. I was studying physics, maths, chemistry and sociology A-Levels and the magazine became an outlet and escape from all the hard work and pressure to do well. I had been using my sister’s camera to take photos of my friends and it became very enjoyable. I started putting the photos together with some words, articles and think pieces I would write about race and other critical ideas I was becoming aware of. This is how the idea of the magazine came about.
Tell us a bit about your background before traveling to the UK? Eg..did you ever school in Nigeria?
I schooled in Nigeria, yes. I remember being a very smart and curious child (I still am I think). I loved figuring out how things worked, I was very studious and was a few grades ahead of my age. I could understand and speak a little Igbo and Yoruba. I was 6 when we left for the UK so I don’t remember much of my childhood here, I just know that education was a large feature of it.
Through your work what would you like to see achieved in the Arts sector?
More criticality and wider representation. I find it hard to make work that doesn’t mean anything, or say anything important. I use arts and design to think through identity, colonial histories and post-colonial experiences. There is intelligence and deep thinking in creativity, and I think art should be held to as high standards as the sciences, maths, etc.
There are many galleries in Lagos, why did you choose Nike gallery to showcase your work, Can you tell us more about Fela No Fear?
I don’t know about many galleries here, my Dad has been the one to take me around so I go wherever he knows. He used to write about the arts for The Guardian Nigeria when he was younger, Nike Arts was one of the places he would write about.
The design for “FELA / NO FEAR” originally didn’t feature Fela’s face or his name. It was a depiction of a Benin bronze. After visiting Nike and seeing a lot of Fela artworks, I swapped the bronze for his face. “FELA / NO FEAR” is a graphic representation of Black Power. The depiction of Fela is layered on top of a map of a big yellow Sun and the Great Benin Walls, with Nsibidi symbols for Sun, Strength Black, Unity and, Odogwu/Hero placed in the corners of the piece, and on Fela’s face. These symbols, along with the map and Fela, tell a story of Nigerian excellence, a celebration of the creativity and talent often found in the country and in Black diasporas, despite troubling histories like the Transatlantic slavery and colonialism.
Where do you hope to see your self in the Arts Industry in the next 10 years?
I hope to be in position of influence so I can educate masses through arts and design.
Aside Arts what else do you do?
I think arts covers everything I do. I’m I’m always trying to learn everyday and channel what I learn into creating things, whether it’s posters, t-shirts, or web design. At the moment I am going between freelancing, starting a business, or going into full-time employment.
