Joyful Canvases: Mixed Media
Artist Statement
I want to sing and dance, acrobatically in my cultural Bini paraphernalia in colors, cut-edge textures and forms on my canvas expressing the fresh, rich, and bright colors influenced by the African tropical hot sun. Happiness, splendor, and excitement are my canvases; re-cycling the environment illustrates my inner strength and hope of an African emerging artist in a society that frustrates and starves innovation, governed by selfish leaders. In all, I choose to paint my bliss.
My abstracts are experimental, entertaining, and dramatic, a combination of fresh colors and found objects. Within each of my artworks are elements of surprise, like a journey without an idea of finishing. I paint in layers of colour, and each layer that I paint exposes a new dimension. The shape, space, and forms dictate my direction. I always know the subject well but not the title.
Eghosa Raymond Akenbor is a painter living and working in Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria. Born in 1982, he holds an HND qualification in painting and general art from Auchi polytechnic, Auchi, Benin City, a diploma in microbiology from the University of Benin, and a post-graduate degree in education from the Nigeria National Teacher’s Institute, Kaduna. He is presently a fine art teacher in a secondary school in Benin City.
Akenbor has participated in various international publications: International Contemporary Art (Vol. 6, 2013), Greece, Hidden Treasure Art Magazine, (Vol. II, 2014), and Pomona Valley Review (Vol. 7 & 8, 2013 & 2014). Group exhibitions include Miami Spectrum (2014), show de bola, Brazil (2014), Altered Aesthetics group exhibition, Minneapolis (2013), and “Sharing a common heritage” sponsored by the Spanish embassy in Nigeria (2012). Akenbor has been selected twice for participation at the first and second International Biennale of Art of Palermo, Italy (2014 & 2015).
