Artist's Statement
The Igbo saying that
“If you do not know where the rain started to beat you, you will not
know where it ceased to beat you” posits a historical imperative for
the understanding of the present and for the survival of a person or
a society at any given time. This idea is elaborated in the
memorable speech by the Old Man in Chinua Achebe’s novel, Anthills
of the Savannah (1987), and resonates with the project, spearheaded
by Uche Okeke in the 1970s at Nsukka, to deeply research
“traditional” Nigerian art as a foundation for the realization of a
vital contemporary art.
At one level, my work has benefited immensely from, and owes a lot
to, the forms and aesthetic strategies of Igbo uli drawing and
painting, and to a lesser extent nsibidi writing. What these two
systems have done is to provide me with a reliable vocabulary for
articulating and presenting my responses to life - various
environments, events and phenomena. In the same way that my
grounding in Igbo and English informs my creative writing, my
encountering the arts of various parts of the world has broadened my
outlook and practice. |
