Really the world of a painter who doubles as a photographer, and also writes poetry and fiction, will be nothing short of activities and high intellectual engagements.
While such identity might be rare in the parlance of art, in reality, there are few artists that truly transverse the different genres of art with remarkable impacts.
Victor Ehikhamenor, notable Nigerian visual artist, comfortably stands in that gap.
From photography, poetry, painting, drawing, sketching to artistic designs, Ehikhamenor’s art transverses almost every medium of artistic expressions. But beyond these activities lie excitement and warmth that epitomise his creative personality. Hardly does his creativity in these media interfere with each other’s development. He rather finds a way of making them enhance each other.
Though the marriage of these genres of art used to be a huge problem for him, he readily finds a way to make all them work to his advantage, to the amazement of his folks in the art community and also woo appreciation from art enthusiasts within the country in the US where he started his experiment with nature.
“They no longer get on each other’s way as they used to, instead they complement each other. Poetry comes into play when I am titling my visual works and I employ fiction in conjuring up certain projects. Photography comes in handy when writing fiction, because you can use it to jumpstart a memory. However, most of these processes are done subconsciously”, Ehikhamenor explains.
For the love of the art, Ehikhamenor bade farewell to his plum job at University of Maryland, USA some years ago.
Though his sojourn outside Nigeria spans 15 years, the multi-talented creative personality is also a strong voice to reckon with in the Nigeria visual art circle. His works among which are: Historically speaking, Many rivers to cross, Nation dance at saraka, The eyes of the mind, The fire next time, The secret of life is to have no fear, not only inspire, they educate and draw the viewers’ attention to their creator.
“I paint from memory. Since we choose what to remember and what to forget, I use my art to define what I have not forgotten”, he says in summary of his paintings.
Over seven solo exhibitions and eight group exhibitions speak for his creative ingenuity.
The Leon Forest Scholar Award for Fiction, New York, Breadloaf Writer’s Conference Scholarship award for Non-Fiction and Familiar Streets Writing Contest award, are among the many laurels that boost his fiction empire.
Even while in the US, his white folks cannot beat him to writing. His short stories such as The General’s Bulldozers, Money, Friends and Greed, Who Will Bury The Dead, Passport To Heaven, among others speak for his excellent writing skills.
Of course, Ehikhamenor drew his early inspiration from his locality in Edo State that is rich in folkloric tradition and materials. Even as a young boy, he knew where he was going in life. Then, he was privilege to witness many festivals that were highly spiritual; which now form parts and pillar of his creativity.
His passion to contribute towards the development of the gifted-hands profession also saw him as the creative director of NEXT, now an online newspaper.
He is not done yet and has no regrets for coming back home. I have to make history in my own country. Breadloaf can wait because I can always win the award again.” He says with his heartfelt passion and enthusiasm for arts and his country.
Obinna Emelike
