Purity sisters Print

PROFILE Juliet Ezenwa Maja Pearce, also known as Juliet Ezenwa , was born in Benin City on July 30, 1968 to Mr and Mrs Patrick and Veronica Nze. She was first introduced to art forms by her grandmother, a reputable traditional body decorator using uli, the art and style adopted and made popular by the Nsukka School. In 1969 (because of the Nigerian civil war) her family moved to their home town, Ashaka, a small fishing village and trading outpost of the United Africa Company. They remained there until 1973, three years after the war ended. Being the child of two working parents, she was always in the care of her grandmother. For want of how to keep the child occupied, she allowed her to paint a portion of the mud walls while she herself worked on the major walls. It was during these years that the young Juliet developed her interest in art. After primary education, Juliet attended the Federal Government Girls’ College in Benin City, from where she gained admission into Bendel State University (now Delta State University), Abraka. Under the tutelage of Prof. Osa D. Egonwa, she acquired her distinct use of dark earth colours usually favoured by students of the uli movement. In 1988, Sam Ovraiti, then a lecturer at the neighbouring Auchi Polytechnic, visited Abraka, during which time he met Juliet and immediately saw her passion for painting. After graduating in 1990, she went to Auchi to work with Ovraiti as his apprentice and artist-assistant, understudying his use of brilliant colours (which was synonymous with the Auchi School). In 1992, she teamed up with her close friend, Julie Ekhomu, to start the Tropical Arts and Craft Gallery. At the gallery, she received firsthand experience in the art business, specifically art marketing, while also functioning as the in–house artist. The job itself was quite restrictive as it did not allow her much time for the creative process or for effectively participating in group exhibitions. However, she was able to keep producing works and had her first solo exhibition in 1993 at the IBB Golf Club in Abuja. In 1994, she left the Tropical Arts and Crafts Gallery and became Sam Ovraiti’s personal assistant. This position accorded her the much-needed space and time to practice her art. She remained in this position until 1999, in the course of which she held two consecutive solo exhibitions: Faces (1996) and Memories (1997). It was during this time that she also started the Nigeria Independence Day exhibitions.