Oblivion Sculpture

This piece is from my ongoing body of work titled hustle, and it sheds light on hard labor which is a way of life for lots of internally displaced Northern Nigerians who have found their way to Lagos, Nigeria, after being displaced by terrorist activities in their homeland. Young boys run after buses with their wheelbarrow just to help passengers carry heavy goods, and they survive on that every day until they find something better, if they ever find something better. This piece is meant to document and create awareness that a life like this exists. It might also spur people to act on poverty alleviation schemes to help Internally displaced people within Nigeria and other parts of the world. I created this work by spot welding metal rods and plates to create a stylized figure while I added sawdust as texture and brown gloss paint for the rusty brown metallic feel. Finally, I brushed it lightly using a little red and yellow paint for patinas and highlights. In my works, the main artistic concern is focused on the socio-economic and socio-political activities affecting our daily life. I assess the events within my society which I seek to remodel through my fabrications and assemblage. My aim is not to reproduce what I see, but rather to give form to the vibrations emanating from the metaphysics of my Afrocentric society. I start out with a sketch on the floor, then I trace it out by bending metal rods along the sketch to bring it out in a two-dimensional form, it can later be developed into a three-dimensional piece depending on my intentions. I assemble my works together by spot-welding metal plates, metal rods and found objects. My found objects consist of household equipments and discarded objects that I adapt and re-invent for a different purpose in my works. To create contrast in my works, I sometimes add textures to the metal surface by using sawdust and paint in a way that is both simple and complex. The use of sawdust provides a rough surface on my metal fabrication, allowing me to introduce varying mixtures of colors, through a process I call "highlights". The resulting depiction is always the patina in my assemblage and this creates a dynamic relationship between the figure, form, and space. My two-dimensional works also have three-dimensional forms in its high relief state and this serves as a stability for the constructs that exist between a two-dimensional sculpture and three-dimensional sculpture in my works. In my assemblage, everything represented are usually the actual subject, with underlying meanings. The figures and objects created have character but are stylized in my fabrications. Every piece, no matter how minute, is a thought-through process in my efforts to express myself and break away from my habitual aesthetics. for photographic info: .html