Featured Artist Favour Agumadu(London)

Agumadu Favour Chiagozie is a professional fine artist born on May 9th, 1992 in Imo state, Nigeria. He went to Logos International Secondary school and was awarded the best fine art student in the cause of his study. He studied fine and applied arts at Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria and graduated as the best graduating fine art student in 2017. He relocated to the UK in 2022 where he did his masters degree programme in Fine arts at the University of Hertfordshire. He graduated in 2023 with distinction and has participated in over eight international art exhibitions in the last eight years. He co-founded an exhibition that holds annually themed “Experience”. He organised the exhibition “Experience” the 2nd in 2021 that was televised on channels tv news and artworks were sold.

Favour is experienced in curating artworks and is a practicing fine artist. He has been commissioned to carry out over 250 artworks in the last 6 years of which one was for the state governor of Imo state in 2017. Favour’s artworks have evolved throughout the years and have been like a journey. He calls his works 2.5d works because it breaks the traditional understanding of 2 dimensional works and is not fully 3 dimensional. Some of his mediums include hair, paper, canvas, beads and unconventional materials. His themes cut through cultures, spirituality, human emotions, mental health and stories that heals the mind. One of his themes like “Origin” dig back up to 5 centuries seeking the origin of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria.

FAVOUR AGUMADU ARTWORKS

This Favour Agumadu’s works encompasses mainly a series titled Origin. These works are primarily made with canvas, large photography background papers, glitters and other mixed media. They are either and neither 2d or 3d artworks. I like to call it a 2.5d because it breaks the barrier of the common understanding of two dimensional and 3 dimensional artworks. Looking at them from a distance at times can give you a feeling that it’s made with leather but it’s basically paper and canvas glued together giving it a firm standing exoskeleton that can stand and yet be rolled.

IJE: Journey (Origin Series)

Ije which is an Igbo word that means “Journey” is an artwork that is inspired by my tradition, the “Igbo” tradition. Over a few months, I have been going back to find the origin of the Igbos. I went more than two centuries back but it was not enough. In the cause of my research, some scholars believe that Igbos are part of the missing tribes of Israel. I have heard this theory before, but I don’t even know if I believe it. Although certain of our traditions concur with Israel traditions like bride price. Personally, I know my ancestors were fish merchants and travelled a lot. Was it because of trade my ancestors came down to Nigeria? I cannot tell. This research motivated me to create this work that looks like a map of no exact destination.

IME MMUO: Spirit man (Origin Series)

Ime Mmuo which simply means spirit man is a demonstration of what runs within humanity, what controls us, a connection with our creator.  It is a demonstration of my journey going back to my creator through my mind seeking meaning to my existence. Unlike my other works, I left this piece without boarder to show how broad the human mind can be. The flames show control of the creator.

IJE 2 (ORIGIN SERIES)

The contrast of black creating a void when glitters is applied draws my attention to depth, spirituality and travel through time. The movement of the jute rope was allowed to go beyond a 2d understanding by piercing through the work all the way to the back. In the context of Ije which means journey is signified by the movement of the jute rope. It’s not just any kind of journey to me but the journey of the Igbo people right from the civil war they lost in 1970 to Nigeria, to their movement through time and places making striking relevance to themselves and people around them. Apart from the jute rope, the pattern of installation of the artwork tells me to go round it is breaking the barrier of 2d entering a 2.5d dimension.

UKWU UCCOR

Where I live, there was a tree centred in the market. The tree was called Ukwu Uccor also known as the Uccor tree. The tree is over 100 years old judging by the roots and the heavy stem. It’s believed that evil spirits reside in the tree; I do believe that too. Due to it has stayed long in the area, the market was established under it and the entire street was called Ukwu Uccor.

Calamity came when the tree fell around 2013. It took blood and tears. It was later said that a mad man (mentally deranged man) foretold the fall that evening before it fell but no one listened. The fall of this monument of nature took over 300 lives.

This story inspired me to make this sculpture.

UKWU OSE (ORIGIN SERIES)

Ukwu Ose is a particular hairstyle I saw mostly when I was little in my village. It was common with young girls with short hairs. Now you can only find it among specific religious people and those in the heart of the villages. I also introduced plastic to this piece made of canvas to show how western civilization is eating up our culture.

CITY ON THE HILL (ORIGIN SERIES)

The hair was the most exciting part of the work for me when I was creating this 2.5d work. I initially wanted to make the background black as my other artworks, but the coloured and grey paints fit the narrative I am working on which is slavery. In the 16 centuries, slaves were taken from Africa to Columbia. Their hair was shaved off to erase any form of identity. But when their hair started growing, they plaited their hair and used it as a map to escape to a safe city. This was an encoded message and only the slaves knew it. The long-plaited hair in the middle of this 2.5d work signifies the pathways some will follow to escape. I feel a lot of African history was lost during the slave regime; I am working to find them out.

NOTES

This work titled “Notes” and feelings is both philosophical and intellectual. I translated the rhythm of the music I listened to into paintings and that resulted in the scribbling on the paper. The large print was a successful experiment representing the mind of a musical writer. This artwork is a pair and they were done simultaneously within two weeks. The works when literally joined together form a single work with each side lapping comfortably against each other.

FEELINGS

Like I said earlier, this work is a pair. This one titles “Feelings” stands for how the human mind that is not the writer or creator interprets music. It also shows how weak our minds can be. The rip at the left top side of the artwork was a mistake but I decided to stitch it together and called that area “happy accident”.

NOT WANTING TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT MY GRADES (Silence series)

This work was like freedom to me of how I truly feel and not doing to please anyone. Sometimes when you’re a student, it’s as if you’re weighed and still found wanting despite putting in effort. I remember a friend of mine asking me, if I was happy with my grades, I was completely silent. That was how the title of the work came about.

TRAPPED (Silence Series)

While studying and making research on mental health care patients. I realised some of them have split identities. At some point, they’re happy while at some other they’re aggressive. This work tries to portray how trapped someone can be in different identities and how hard one can try to pull themself together despite the odds. It shows how powerless one can be to certain emotions like rage and depression. There’s a hand in the middle of the work that shows struggle. Most (patients) take solace in music. This research is based on healing broken minds. So I say “Don’t give up”. If you’re going through such a struggle, don’t give up on yourself. Jesus loves you. Give him a chance if you haven’t and watch healing come.