With the latest piece of her work featured on the cover of ‘The New Yoker’ Diana Ejait‘s ‘Iya Ni Wura‘ (Mother is Gold) is an ode to motherhood.
Diana is an illustrator and textile designer based in berlin. Born in Italy and spending most of her childhood across many countries in South America and Asia, Diana has also been to many parts of Africa and Nigeria, where she draws her inspiration for the cover of ‘The New Yorker’
Ejaita painting a mural at a community center in Bordum, Turkey, in 2016An early sketch for the cover Of ‘The New Yorker’
She draws inspiration for both her artistic creativity from a fusion of West African influences. Being born of a Nigerian heritage, Ejaita has found a way of linking to her heritage by making amazing illustrations from fabrics with a blend of aesthetics and style.
Through textiles, I can keep telling stories of my experiences as a kid of the diaspora
Diana Ejaita, in an Interview with ‘The New Yorker’
Diana has always pointed out the importance of West African textile to her as she believes the fabrics all tell different stories.
I also like that in Nigerian visual culture, the symbols work both as decorative elements and as a way to connect with the spiritual world. I look for simple forms and feel that with them I can convey universal messages.
Diana Ejaita in an Interview with ‘The New Yorker’
Over the years, she has also found a way to fuse these African inspired illustrations with European influences. Rather than keeping an eye for the differences in the two cultures, she looks out for a connection.
Please Tell us about yourself? Who is liberto_clems?
My name is Chibuike Clement Obioha. I am a visual artist and a freelance Illustrator and caricaturist located in Imo state. My passion to effectively express myself encouraged me to develop my style and paint both digitally and traditionally. I’m inspired mostly by what I see.
What did you study in University?
I’m currently studying Architecture at Federal University of Technology, Owerri.
Did you always want to be an artist?
Yes, I’ve always wanted to be an artist. It’s a part of who I am and who I’m meant to be.
What’s a typical day like for you.
I see each day as an opportunity to set and accomplish anything and to learn something new. So, basically I draw every day with any slightest opportunity I get because directly or indirectly it helps keep me mentally fit. I try out other activities afterwards.
How would you describe your style, why caricatures? What inspires you?
My style is born out of passion and consistency in practice. Among the things i paint as an artist, Caricature painting is my favourite because it’s an interesting way to express ideas. I started doing caricature sketching in mid 2016, then digitally in 2017. The art of Caricature is like poetry, it allows one to express deep meanings with few strokes; so i see Caricature art as realism. I’m inspired by variety in faces of people, culture and environment. I’m also inspired by works of talented artists.
Do you prefer drawing traditionally or digitally?
I work both traditionally and digitally. But most of the time I work digitally, which is more convenient for me.
Mac or PC?
What apps, websites , plugins etc so you use?
I’m comfortable with PC.
Of your Art, is there one that is a favorite?
I paint with Photoshop Cs6 and CC with my graphics tablet. I don’t use plugins.
Do you ever make political expressions in the art?
Yes, sometimes. It’s not always easy to keep up with Nigerian politics. It’s a challenge for the year.
Would you consider mentoring?
Yes. I don’t mind.
Where is your favorite place in the world?
My favourite place in the world is Venice, in Italy.
What social media tools do you use as an artist and how do they affect your way of working?
I don’t use any social media tools at the moment.
Do you think it’s easier to market yourself on the internet than using traditional means?
Yes, I think so.
In your opinion, what is the future of art in Nigeria?
It depends on how well it will be promoted and how much disposable income Nigerians will have in the future.
How much attention do you pay to the feedback of others on your art?
Feedback matters a lot to me. I pay close attention to feedbacks and apply corrections where necessary.
For more on Clems work you can check out his pages:
Who is Lekanskills?
Lekanskillz (N.B. it ends with “z”) is a multi -disciplinary artist who does, graphic design, painting and clothing. He hails from Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria and he is a graduate of Yaba College of technology. His real name is Olalekan Odunbori.
How did you get started with design?
I started as an apprentice in a sign writing shop. Then, I learnt the traditional way of design but when I got admitted into Yabatech, I was able to learn the digital aspect of design through my colleagues.
What’s a typical work day like?
A typical work day is a mixture of work and play. Everyday I write down the jobs I need to knock off for the day and try to have fun while I work and try to have fun while I work. Listening to music is one of the things that make work fun for me.
What are your personal influences? How did you get interested in Fashion specifically?
Good and clean designs really influence me. As much as I want my designs to be eye-catching, I try to make it as simple as possible because I believe as a designer, you should be able to communicate clearly to your audience with your work.
Basically, my art got me interested in Fashion. I love African art. So, whenever I create an artwork that is African oriented, I always have the urge to optimize the potential of the work by transferring it onto clothes and that has helped me build my fashion brand.
What has been one of your most challenging assignments?
It was designing some posters for a client in which no photoshoot was done. So I had to do a lot of photo manipulations in order to get the job done.
Any super projects you are working on at the moment?
No, not now.
What social media tools do you use and how does it affect your way of working?
I use Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. These tools, especially Instagram, has helped me sell myself to the general public. I got some new clients through these tools, many pages share my works and the experience has been amazing.
Do you think it’s easier to market yourself on the Internet than traditional means?
Yes I think so and you get to reach a wider range of people unlike the traditional means and it’s also cost effective
How much attention do you pay to the importance
I pay a good amount of attention to them and I always learn from them?
What advice will you give aspiring designers who want to make a career for themselves?
I will advise them to never stop learning and growing. They should place more focus in mastering their craft. Also, they should always put their works out there for people to see even if they get criticized, they should not stop but push forward.
Seun Adeyemi is a 23 year old Artist and Graphic artist, a resident of Abuja from Osun state, a bit of Seun’s background.
‘I draw, paint, make some crafts, create digital illustrations or artworks and compile slideshow videos. I first started as a Clothing designer/middleman for some t-shirt brands such as GMH (Delaware, USA) and others in Nigeria and continued to keep creating till date’
Seun’s ongoing iloveartng Royalhead series, a homage to old Nigerian Artwork, merging the past and present. Old Nigerian masks dressed in tshirts, suits, traditional attire, some taking selfies!
We spoke to Seun on his inspirations, which seemed a bit mysterious at the time, here is what he had to say,
” (Laughs) it’s a bit mysterious when you see Human heads replaced with the Sculpture heads but no, it was all based on an artistic idea that came to mind. I always like to create and recreate new stuff; either something that was seen in the past, then I try to recreate it or create a trend. I got inspired by glancing through some images of African sculptures on Tumblr while checking some old Nigerian paintings and decided to remodel them in real-life form.
So when I got home that every evening and revisited some old images of myself and started replacing them with the Festac ’77 head and other ones. I named the series as the ila Royal heads and shared the images on Instagram”
it was a bit mysterious, creepy to some people and some others loved the concept behind the project.A week later the British artist, Damien Hirst presented his attempted work from one of Nigeria’s oldest artworks – The Bronze Head from Ife and Nigerian artists came out to try and support the past Nigerian relics and artworks which were dubbed and recreated in recent times with any ties of acknowledgement.
On his challenges,
‘Some of the challenges I have faced so far while carrying out the ila royalhead series are finance (for the merchandise and prints); cost of production of prints & merchandise and creating the team (everyone wants to make money even sometimes without working / you barely see anyone trying to volunteer these days), for now i just work with some external parties who help consult’.
Frank Otuya is a visual artist and illustrator. His work focuses on the realistic representation of emotional expressions, body language and characters, in a style he defines as “Expressional Realism“.
Who is Frank Otuya, Please introduce yourself
I am a visual artist and illustrator. I make realism drawings and paintings in a style of art I like to define as Expressional Realism, I’m also a design engineer by day.
Leo Messi (2014); oil on canvas.
Did you always want to become an illustrator/painter. Tell us what you wanted to be as a kid, and your journey till date.
As a kid I actually wanted to be a rapper but that clearly didn’t work out. However, I always had a passion for design, it was my way of expressing ideas. Because of this passion I was able to teach myself how to draw and paint. Right now, visual art is my way of telling a story.
Silent Pains
What is your strongest memory of your childhood?
USA ’94 World Cup and everyone around me yelling “inside the net!”. Rashidi Yekini had just scored Nigeria’s first ever World Cup goal. Great moment.
What is “Expressional Realism” and why this particular style?
Expressional Realism is my representation of emotional expressions, body language and character forms. These expressions communicate an intricate detail of the state of mind of a being, and the consciousness surrounding one’s essential nature.
The Legend Series
How do you work?
Late nights, that’s when the magic happens. I like to keep a clean workspace because I work a lot with charcoal, it can get really messy if not handled properly and thats not good for whatever I’m working on so I tend to have an orderly approach to working.
Reflections (2016)
Your typical work flow.
I keep ideas of what I want to do in my head probably for days or weeks and I get into my studio and draw out sketches. I always have some music or a podcast playing in the background, that sets me in the mood and I begin to make my full renditions.
Powerful Elegance (2016)
What themes do you pursue?
Purpose, meaning and beauty are extremely important to me.
Sad Angel (2016)
Dream project?
Don’t really have a dream project per say but I’m working on a new project right now. Last year I made The Legend Series. It was a commemorative art project that was extremely important to me. It marked the 20th anniversary of the Olympic gold winning Dream Team at the Atlanta ’96 games. I have a couple more projects I’m looking to get done this year.
What other mediums have you explored in the past?
I have worked with a lot of mediums in the past from acrylic paints to Q-tips, but one thing I tend to be obsessed about is paper. Yes paper. We tend to take paper for granted but you’d be amazed by how many types of paper there are, and the different properties it has and the effect it has on a rendition from; grammage, texture, hot press to cold press, toothing, fabric, acidity, they are all very important elements I consider thoroughly.
What is your favourite colour? please tell us in detail if possible –
Red, I play for the Gunners #WengerOut.
What superpower would you have and why? –
Lazer eyes. So I can obliterate my enemies with dashing glares. No more unwanted eye contact without a price.
Any advice for Newbie creatives out there?
Believe in your wave. Stay true to yourself. And don’t forget what DJ Khaled said.
Who is the Mumu Illustrator? Tell us about you, your background… growing up.
Mumu illustrator is hard to define. Like most people I’ve been drawing since I was a child, unlike others I decided to make a living out of it. I spent my first 10yrs in Kano then moved to Nasarawa and then finally Abuja where I spent my secondary school years. I went to university at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where I studied fine and applied arts. I never took art seriously until my dad advised me to study it in university instead of economics as I had wanted to. A year after I left University I started the comic Mumu Juju, as I was doing all the work on the comic at the time I became the illustrator for Mumu Juju and so the Mumu Illustrator was born
Where is Home?
Home for me is wherever my system is, wherever I can work.
Who or what got you into digital art / illustration
I’ve always wanted to tell stories and in University I met people who were interested in the same things as me. Somehow we stumbled into digital art and I have there ever since.
Tell us about your style.
Well i love simplification, making things as abstract as they can be. I don’t like details (because that equals stress) so I’m usually looking for the easiest way to capture the human body.
Describe your most unconventional source of inspiration.
Hmmmmm that’s tuff. I’d say food. That’s actually how I came up with Mumu Juju. I was hungry one day and I wanted pounded yam. But I realized that there was no way I was going to pound that yam, so I started wondering if there was a super hero out there who would come and make pounded yam for me. And so Mumu Juju was born, ( that’s why the super heroes are named Mortar and Pestle)
How is the Red Tempo project going? Tell us about it
Its going fine actually, I can’t say much but there’s a lot of to do so, it’s going great.
The future of Comic illustration in Nigeria. How different do you think the industry will be in a few years time?
Well based on what I can see now it’s going to be crazy. As long as guys keep pushing, as long as they stay original and don’t try to copy Marvel or D.C., we’re good.
Do you have a website and/or blog you visit often?
Naaa in usually just on Pinterest or my favorite artists social media accounts. I’m usually all over, never in one place.
Can you describe your favourite colour in detail? If Not then
It’s a combination actually. The interplay between the warmth and coolness of yellow and purple is something I always find interesting.
Are you a MAC or PC lover?
Whichever on does the work. I use a MAC now though because I was under the impression it would do everything i was but alas for that I’d have to build mine
Movies or Music. If you could watch one movie or listen to one song for the rest of your life
Music definitely. If I could listen to one song it would be Prodigal son by Rationale and as for the movie it would be……..Kung Fu Hustle.
Where can our readers find (buy) your comic books ( Mumu Juju)?
Visual Magazine 
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