Chinze’s world

Keen eyes watch out for items which she no longer needs, or which some are ready to give away. These could be bits of cloth, buttons, caps, needles, jute bags and much else. She then uses these to create art works of great beauty which speak of love, harmony, music, deportment or even of  the […]

Keen eyes watch out for items which she no longer needs, or which some are ready to give away. These could be bits of cloth, buttons, caps, needles, jute bags and much else. She then uses these to create art works of great beauty which speak of love, harmony, music, deportment or even of  the joys of living. The young well dressed  female traders in a  painting which is  a slice of Lagos, does suggest the latter, and the nomad and his lover may  speak of tender emotions. The guitar suggests  the power of art to subdue base emotions, or  to calm the  worried  soul, and  all these works make  use of recycled items. Old and new unite in a seamless manner under the watchful gaze of the artist, and come to think of it, there’s a lot about women that won’t allow anything to waste, but they incline to use  the items which  obtain  in an environment.
The thought, the very idea itself,  uplifts and inspires in a gentle way. But it may only be an artist who will realise that an old cap, hat or dusty bottle, could be used to effect  something remarkable in a work of art. Then there are the powerful intuitions of the woman which govern the works of art, and these  may overwhelm the visitor. Chinze tells Daily Trust at her exhibition of recycled items currently showing at Sheraton Hotel, Abuja “We women don’t allow anything to waste, and we are more daring and willing to experiment.”
Her exhibition is themed “Dominating your environment,” and it seems to revolve around the possibility that an individual will recycle discarded or old items to form what is new. In this way the person rises to become one who actually governs or shapes his/her environment by making it beautiful and neat. At another level, people  in the neighbourhood are urged by the example of the artist, to higher levels of creativity  in their  daily tasks. There’s no waste in nature as well as in life, Chinze seems to be saying here. There  is also a lot that is new and thought provoking at the exhibition which is located within the friendly lobby of the hotel.

This is the world of Chinze Ojobo. Trained in Fine and Applied Arts  at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, she has a passion for recycling items and creating combinations in exciting and imaginative ways. To Chinze, her work  in recycled art, is   an experiment “It’s an experiment. I  don’t know how it would turn out when I begin. The  fun  lies in the fact that it is an experiment, and  I always hope it will turn out well.”
But the experiment is also part of the challenge tied to the work “The challenge is you are experimenting, and yet you don’t know what the end product will look like. At the end of the effort, you may not like it. At times, I get to a point where I don’t know what to do again. Then, I stop and I pray. I get inspiration again, and then I continue. On the other hand, If I don’t like a work, I keep it on the side, and I go back to it later, when I then remove or add a bit of it. But I keep working at it.”

On the concept of recycling, she says “how do you put these items to use, so they will be significant to you? One day I opened my bathroom cabinet, and saw empty bottles, and I thought I could put these to use in my art.” She says that she does not purchase any of the items which she uses for this form  of art. This is, of course, because they were originally  bought for a different purpose earlier on. For instance, a button could have been bought to sew onto a dress, but in Chinze’s unique world  where items are creatively repositioned, the button  could be used to add meaning to a work of art,and even help to  make  a political point,for instance. This is why bits of cloth, buttons, and jute bags can be seen in some of the works on display. She uses good quality materials for her work “I use very good canvas and good quality paint. I don’t compromise on that. I get them locally, but I am planning to travel to purchase some items. I also try to use materials which are durable.

A good number of artists are turning to the use of recycled items she tells Daily Trust, referring  to one who has used tyres, as well as dried branches in a recent work. But there is great fun in her form of art “When I was doing the work with the man wearing the cap, I didn’t know what it was going to turn out like. But when I finished, it was great. I get excited working with these items. Its not as though I know what it would look like. I am just experimenting.”
Her exhibition has been on for 10 days, that is as at the time of filing this report, and  the response from visitors has been wonderful “People are very excited. There is an excitement in each of the visitors. As  they are passing they stop and look, and we are getting very positive responses from them.” Then there are quite a number of northern threads racing through her works. This could be the outline of a palace, a nomad and his young lover, a  musician in Hausa attire  etc, and  she traces this presence to her years of living in Abuja.” I want to start a training school, and a lot of people are speaking to me about this. It will start as a small thing, and  focus on children from the years 0 to 19,” she says, when asked to contemplate the future. She wants to guide them in the area of digital art “since many children are using the computer now. I want to do digital art with them, to keep their minds working.”

She traces her interest in recycled art to an experience in Bulgaria, where she was exposed to  collage and other  art forms, alongside artists from Turkey, New Zealand and Germany. Bulgaria seems to have been a major point  for her in the context of recycled art. Literature on her efforts indicates “Her paintings are usually detailed, highly textured and rich in symbolism. Her colours are vibrant and full of energy.”
As we look at the various works, she enthuses “I write as the idea comes to me. It is the Almighty Who gives the idea. I have 4 books which are already full of such jottings.” All these are just a small part of Chinze’s world, for she is also into “water colour paintings, and expresses herself on  metal and wood and making two and three dimensional sculptures,” indicates the flyer.