Artist Statement

Of Home and Now, delves into multi-layered personal identity. In this multimodal media installation, I explore the contrast between life in my home city, Lagos, Nigeria, and the new town of Storrs, CT, USA. Of Home and Now comprises four works: the stop-motion animated short “Hustle Go Pay,” the animated short “Memories,” the four-channel video installation “Face Me I Face You,” and the augmented reality visual poem “Meji Meji.”

In all four works, I conjure experiences that serve as anchors to my past and cultural background alongside experiences of migration and life in a new place. I take inspiration from multiple forms of storytelling, including Yoruba proverbs, stories in the Quran, and contemporary Nigerian artists, as I tell my own stories through multimodal media.

Through Of Home and Now, I seek to understand how to be someone who is constantly moving and striving for new knowledge, while still holding on to experiences, memories, and ideals from the past. The works weave together text – including poems and writings that incorporate pidgin English, and visuals – drawings, digital collage, paintings, sound and performance. Text may contrast with visuals, be absent from a piece, be presented visually, be spoken as poetry, or appear fragmented.