A Journal for the Artistic Process
Children’s Museum F.I.N.E. Arts Residency: A Work in Progress
The World We Carry Playlist: https://t.ly/spP1x
Last October, I was selected to be one of 14 artists in the Children’s Museum’s F.I.N.E Arts Residency from October through March. During this time, each artist is assigned one color on the color wheel to create a monochromatic piece in a theme of our choice. We were given a 24x24 wooden panel to complete, and we meet quarterly throughout the process to collaborate on ideas and discuss our progress so far.
My assigned color is Blue Violet, and at first I was quite nervous about staying within a monochromatic scheme (with some allowance to pull from adjacent colors on the wheel for highlights and low lights). As I fleshed out a sketch on the wooden board, however, I started to let ideas flow—starting to play with sculptural elements, which I’d never done before this. I also expanded from simply doing portraits to involving more of the landscape and surrounding background to incorporate more of a story. The references used are inspired by a time I spent going to Maine with my childhood best friend to Acadia National Park. This was such a freeing experience with quite a few challenging hikes along the way. As this was right around my birthday in the fall, the scenery was quite calming and serene. The focal point of the trip for me, besides the beautiful landscapes, were the many lighthouses around the area, really catching my attention. When this residency opportunity came along, I found myself looking through some photos for inspiration and came across a photo I took of a lighthouse on a rocky cliffside. I was drawn to incorporate this into the piece along with a figure that would almost seem to be having a conversation with the structure.
Once I gathered the concept, I moved to how I wanted to execute this, asking myself not only what story to tell, but also how do I want to tell this story? I thought about all of the techniques I have yet to explore and one question stuck out to me the most — how can I incorporate sculpture into the painting to tell this story? I did some research, went to the local art store, and settled on trying air-dry clay after discovering that it adheres to wood pretty well, without the need for any adhesives. I played with the textures on the cliff sides and structures in the piece to create some depth, and I found it rewarding to figure out what works— between collaborative talks with the other artists in the residency and just trial and error. As I am continuing to render this idea out fully, I’ll continue to play with textures and push the color scheme. I realize just how important it is to have variation in values when working with one color. In the past with multiple colors, it was much easier to use contrasting colors to differentiate foreground and background elements. With this project, I am learning why values are so important. I see that if they are too close together, it is easy to get a bit lost in the piece, at least in my own perspective.
This residency so far has truly been a chance for me to grow as an artist as I continue to practice. I’ve always felt the best way for me to learn anything is by doing (and having the safe space to make mistakes and learn from them). I’m excited to see where this piece will take me as I finish this through. Once completed, the artwork will be permanently displayed along with the other artists’ work in the Café of the Children’s Museum on the entry-level floor. I will definitely be sharing more about the opening when that time comes. Until then, thank you for reading!
IFEOMA - February 3rd 2025
Artwork Spotlight: The World We Carry and How it Started
Spotify Playlist: https://t.ly/spP1x
Every once in a while, I’ll have a dream so vivid that it sticks with me. The landscapes, the emotions felt, and my thoughts within — they linger. This is exactly the case with the dream that gently woke me out of my sleep with a peaceful yet determined sense to recreate it.
For context, in this dream my brother and I found ourselves exploring ancient ruins in a majestical setting. We were in a distant land surrounded by nothingness except this Egyptian-like structure, feeling completely at peace and adventurous. I distinctly remember I ran my hand across a rough sandstone like structure as I explored the sunny landscape, with my brother slightly ahead of me.
In early late November of 2022, I woke up from the dream eager and almost obsessive about painting what I had seen. I remember my eyes reluctantly opening (wanting to hang on to the memory of the dream a little longer) with a euphoric moment of being so excited to paint something so majestical, otherworldly, and blissfully full of color. There was only one problem. I was in the middle of finishing up commissions for local learning centers here in Pittsburgh, which you can find here if interested. Despite how antsy I was to get started, I knew I had to delay the gratification of creating from this new God-given idea.
When the time came and my commissions were complete, I used some left over material and left over time in a storage unit I used as a studio space to begin. I started so simply: painting the background blue, creating a horizon line, and practicing two-point perspective with a technique I’d seen a while ago on social media. I started to fill in the space with a seemingly never ending sea, and began to add this sandstone like structure I experienced in the dream. I played with color and textures, using many tools for the first time, or in new ways. Some tools I learned to use included palette knives, larger paint brushes and overall being brave to paint the largest painting I’ve ever done up to this point.
From December 2022- June 2023 I worked on this piece, transforming my bedroom into a studio space to continue the process. I thought I finished the piece with all of the colorful ruins surrounding a large box like structure in center and a figure floating along the side as if just making a discovery of this odd, interesting place. However, in 2024 I found myself creating more details to this piece, adding another layer to this story.
This subtle yet bold practice of trying newly learned techniques on larger scale pieces led to exploring two-point perspective through landscapes as crowns and eventually to the The World We Carry, a series where I started to ask questions about the inner worlds of others, and our interactions. Perhaps I’ll do a deeper dive into that process another time. For now introducing “Adrift” - 6ft x 4ft, acrylic on canvas, officially completed in 2023/2024. This is currently on view at the MuseumLab until end of February this year.
Thank you for reading and sending love,
IFEOMA - January 12th 2025
Adrift, 2023/2024, acrylic on canvas, 6ftx4ft
The World We Carry: A Preview of Small Works
Spotify Playlist: https://t.ly/spP1x
A while back, I was rushing to create some small works to share for the Three Rivers Arts Festival here in Pittsburgh. Now most would frown on the idea of creating art under pressure like this, but I wanted to challenge myself. So for about 2 weeks I spent 4-6 hrs on average, working on background paintings, finding inspo, creating sketches, and finally painting out ideas that would come to me. It was almost as if that short amount of time I gave myself opened the floodgates of pent-up ideas where I otherwise would have ruminated over and over again. I didn't have time to overthink, which gave me a freedom that I think is underrepresented with time constraints.
Don’t get me wrong, I looove to take my time as well. So much so that it can take me 6 months to complete one piece if I let myself get deep into the details. For this reason, projects like this act as a friendly reminder (or rude awakening depending on one’s perspective) to feel through a creative process because not everything can be analyzed.
The 15 pieces completed (13 of which are in this exhibit) represent just that — feeling through an artistic process. One piece in particular called “The World is Yours” named from the hip hop track of the same name, piqued my curiosity of what other songs go with this series. With encouragement from the gallery manager, I became excited about the idea of a soundtrack for The World We Carry and so, here we are.
Some pieces have a direct correlation to a selected track and others may not. Either way, below I paired a song or two with each piece. I won’t share what I think the relevance is to each pairing. I’d like for the listener/viewer to decide. Discuss with others, think about its meaning, and if you’d like feel free to reach out to me as well, I’d love to know your thoughts.
Sending love,
IFEOMA - July 11th 2024
P.S. The pairings of each piece to song should be in order from left to right in the gallery if you listen to the playlist chronologically. Otherwise, they are shared here —>
My first Solo Exhibit - May to June 2023
Recently, I had the lovely opportunity to experience my first solo show for “The Praying Women” series (which you can see in my portfolio section). This is something that I knew I wanted to do, but did not realize the impact it would have on me in a positive way. I created most of the pieces in this small collection in 2021– the very beginning stages of my full time pursuit of a creative lifestyle.
Honestly at the start of this collection, my main goal was simply to practice portrait sketches, hand drawing, and overall developing my craft. As I started sketching, ideas started flowing.
Prior to my sketch practice I had just finished a couple of abstract paintings that I wanted to try just for fun, primarily using drip painting. While I was working on these portraits I began develop questions like: what type of portraits do I want to sketch? How can I combine these sketches with these physical paintings? What concepts or ideas do I want to explore?
I eventually landed on praying women from different cultures and from different religions. Initially the thought was to draw portraits of women praying from all over the globe, however over time I realized I was honing in on women from different cultural backgrounds in Nigeria, including my Igbo cultural background. I then decided that the best way to combine these portrait sketches with these paintings, was through digital 2d illustrations.
Through seeking out my curiosities and being willing to experiment I found that my ideas were able to evolve into something greater over time. Starting with something as small as a desire to practice turned into a full fledged collection.
I think over the years I am now beginning to embrace that my process tends to look this way. It may start simple but develop into something much more.
— IFEOMA, July 8th, 2023
