Interview with Ofobuike Okudoh

After studying accounting for four years, you decided to chase your creative dreams in France and study Fashion Design at ESMOD Roubaix. What gave you the courage to pursue such drastically different interests?

It was all about age and the evolution that came with it. Being top of my commercial class in senior secondary school, I wanted to study accounting in university. However, this changed in my third year of university when I had it in mind to explore my artistic gift from childhood even further by studying fashion design in France after obtaining my degree.

What made you take the leap to build a creative brand?

Creativity has always been a part of me, from stories springing up while staring at the clouds to trees shapeshifting in my imagination.

The idea to be a full-time artist came naturally at a difficult period, during my final year fashion internship in Belgium. I’d say I drew myself out of sadness and uncertainty. Consequently, the metamorphosis in my art style surfaced.

Ofobuike Okudoh, FORTH, 2023, Markers, Acrylic, and Ball Pens on 220 g. Paper

How do you work and how has your practice changed over time?

All my artworks come from within. Sometimes I draw directly on the final format or transfer the images from my small sketchbook. All the intricate details are then added after the outer structure has been determined. I just enjoy myself by adding patterns within the structure in order to fill up the white spaces. 

Afro hair texture is a vital ingredient in my work process which I create by layering tiny scribbles with ball pens most of the time. Over the years the dimensions of my organic artworks have gotten bigger, more detailed and more colorful.

How do you define success as an artist? What do you wish to accomplish?

Earning stable income and achieving sustainable networking through which my long-term goals could be met.

Agriculture, community development, organic textile innovation, and cultural sustenance are the main goals to be attained through this lifetime adventure.

Art is meaningless if it doesn’t tell a story or make a lasting impact. My goal is to touch the lives of my people, especially the youth, through reviving lost traditions like handmade textile, tattoos, history, ancient hairstyles, and architecture.

What does being a Black artist mean to you?

I grew up in an environment where identity was ethnic; Igbo, Yoruba, and Bini in my case.

I focus on my journey of creativity which unconsciously contains influences from my ethnic mixture while preserving my originality.

The hairstyles, scarifications, and patterns in my artwork often resemble a lot of elements from my Yoruba side most, especially because that’s the culture I’m most conversant with.

This discovery comes into play after the artwork is finished. It’s quite a spiritual process.

Ofobuike Okudoh, Revelation, 2022, Ink, Markers, and Acrylic on 220 g. Paper

How did you learn the skills to create? Did you take art classes or are you self-taught?

I’m self-taught . However, art was always part of the school curriculum at all levels of my education. This gave me more space to explore and show off my skills to classmates who highly appreciated them. A major event that sparked my creative juices was representing my primary school in a major art competition in Lagos.

Drawing diagrams in biology was one of the most adventurous aspects. In Nigeria, we were obliged to draw diagrams in our notebook which were inspected thereafter by our teachers. I guess this is the origin of my organic influence.

Sketching while in public transport and green spaces along canals contributes greatly to the refinement of my skills as well.

In your journey as an artist, what has been the most unexpected experience, realization, or challenge?

Collaborating with a maxillofacial surgeon was quite a milestone for me. He explained maxillofacial pain and how it could cause depression and I created a visual representation of the condition in my intricate style.

LinkedIn has the most serious collector base as opposed to other media. If leads respond or show interest, then it’s genuine.

Reaching the right caliber of curators/contacts in the blue-chip, US-based galleries has been quite difficult.

Ofobuike Okudoh, Breakthrough, 2019, Markers and Oil Pastels on 220 g. Paper

What is your biggest barrier to being an artist? How do you address it?

Not having the ease to travel wherever I need to be to make the necessary moves is a challenge. When one is born in a country with a passport that’s not diplomatically favorable, mobility is more difficult.

The US definitely has more opportunities, but I’m left with the option of using the internet to reach potential collectors and curators at the moment. Most of my collectors come from LinkedIn which is the main avenue through which I promote my art and work with curators.

Is there anything missing within our Black art communities?

In France, there’s no Black art community that I know of because the art market isn’t as vibrant as that in the US from my research.

The art spaces here in France are quite close-minded in their dealings with little to no Black representation. This isn’t the country where Black artists can thrive as a collective. Only a few are handpicked.

In general, Black high earners will need to educate themselves about the arts in order to channel their spending habits in a way that will support creatives in their communities. Those who have the resources don’t have the mentality to make things go round in their respective communities. There’s an element of ‘money-miss-road’ as we say in Nigeria.