Turning Your Own Tune

“Hardwork, dedication, self-motivation, research, reading and investing in oneself have always been part of my curriculum for me and my students, because the artist easily gets astray on little success and a flourishing career gets nose-dived! Practice makes perfect. The artist must be at alert to inform and educate through his art, forms and themes.”

This is a continuation of five-part interview of one of Africa’s avant-garde artists.

Dedication is a tool so important in the career life of any artist. “I hardly rely on sponsorship, they delay your mission statement and whatever you are trying to come out with. They even distort your research mien. I would rather work on self-motivation, trying to get acquaint with modernity and what is obtainable in my area of profession. These are also part of the whole library set up and other communication tools around me. For me to have come with those experimentations using non biodegradable tyres as a metaphor, shows the world is changing on thematic approach and I don’t want to be left behind. I invested in the power of re-inventing one’s mind and its paying off. I got the invitation from Abu Dhabi, due to my experimentation of tyres being non-biodegradable property and simply, because my career path tallies with the kind of issues they are trying to address out there in what was titled, “Upcycled Art Festival: Patterns of Unity” Adeola Balogun explained.

It is a good touch for any artist, whatsoever, the genre, to be moving his art to another level. “Hardwork, dedication, self-motivation, research, reading and investing in oneself have always been part of my curriculum for me and my students, because the artist easily gets astray on little success and a flourishing career gets nose-dived! Practice makes perfect. The artist must be at alert to inform and educate through his art, forms and themes.”

Adeola Balogun’s new direction has made him a special one to watch from his connecting societal and environmental issues with mixed media arrangement of his creations right from Infinite Patterns, Ants and Giants Soundspiration.

One beautiful attraction is the ability of the artist to measure up his art creations on mixed media and non-biodegradable tyres with social commentaries through prose and essays. “At a certain time in one’s life, there should be a particular measurement in measuring a man’s worth. What would you want to be known as? It is the duty of the artist to seek education in whatever form to sell, teach and make an impact to the society. We have so many contemporary issues from global issues such as economic problems, inflation and governance, civil strives to environmental issues like global warming, flood, air pollution and other issues begging for attention. Using some of the abandoned materials invented out of natural resources, and other living elements such as animals and plants, including musical instruments are the ability to think outside the box in my career journey, he concluded.

To be continued
Interview /words /Ireho Aito /images /photographs /Adeola Balogun’s archives /Google