Can you share a story about your earliest memory making art?
It all started with drawing assignments given to us in school,I had no idea what I was doing but I notice people will stare and cheer me on,due to the accuracy and neatness of those drawings then. So it became something I'd do naturally without being forced and I find it enjoyable. So have love to draw right from an early age and my dad took special interest in the fact that I can draw and he helped me develop it more.
Can you describe your artistic style and how it evolved over time?
My art is a fusion of abstraction and realism. Initially I started out as a realism artist but it got boring trying to recreate art exactly the way it's. So I began to diversify and researched,and find the tool Pallette Knife as the best tool for me to use. Because it gives me the freedom I needed to be expressive without being restricted to brushes.
Who or what were/are your influences?
I get influenced by things happening around me,my life stories,cultures and heritages. I also get influenced by some great artists I look up to who serves as my mentors and role models in the art field.
What drives you to create,and how are you changing the world one work at a time?
What drives me to create is the burning desire to tell my story for people to see and relate with. For every artpiece created there's a story behind it, it could be personal stories, happenings going on in my environment or I could want to tell a story of my culture. The desire to tell my stories propel me to create.
What's your process when starting a new piece of art?
First and foremost I plan out my thumbnail on my sketchpad,I planned out everything on my sketchbook this will give me a direction of what to do in the course of the painting. Then I'll decide on what size of a canvas that will further portray my story well and give me enough space for additional designs in order to lay more emphasis on the story. Then I proceeded to stretching,sizing and then priming the canvas. Once that's done I sketch out the design on the canvas and proceeded to painting.
How do you deal with creative blocks?
I deal with creative blocks by sleeping (😂😂)then surfing the net for artist works that resonates with my current state of mind so this helps to juggle me up some ideas,then I read books and binge in on some movies.
Talk about the role of Artist in society today
Art is therapeutic and I believe every artist has the power of healing with their works of art. There's this joy an artist feels when the audience can relate with your work and it brings so much joy and smile to their face. I feel the role of artists in the society is to heal, correct the imbalances of the society,kick against corruptions and negativity,build positivity with their art pieces.
To date what has been your best experience with exhibiting your work?
The best experience so far is the audience relating with my works as something happening in their lives and also getting to collect them.
Part of our missions is to help emerging artist find new audience. What do art collectors or patron love about your work?
My ability to tell stories the way it's,the ability to capture their mind with works they can relate with. The usage of colors and generally my understanding about arts and all it entails.
How do you ensure that your work is original and not infringing on the works of other artists?
Originality comes from within and no matter how hard you study other artists work you can never replicate their works. So my art is original as I sources for references to use from sources around me and creating them myself.
Fine Arts is universal but it speaks to many beholders. How do you ensure that your work is accessible to diverse audiences?
Truly art is universal,and trust me carefully carved out works of art can be understood by all people who sees it whether they're art oriented or not. I try as much as possible to make every artpiece created to be relatively relatable. These are artpieces that talks about day to day activities and daily lifestyles.
Umbra is about sharing work we love by lesser-known artist around the world. What does being a global citizen and an artist means to you?
Well it's a good and beautiful thing to have your art viewed on a larger scale than it would ordinarily would have been. Being a global citizen and artist would also help give me the platform for more visibility,and also to reach a much more larger audience.
