‘I must have painted in the womb’

Ikenna Udeh Buffalo was created to be an artist. That is the conviction of the Enugu-born artist. One is tempted to believe this, because of the obvious passion for the arts and the huge amount of art works he has put together – a whooping 5, 000 pieces, he boasts. His paintings are haunting – […]

Ikenna Udeh Buffalo was created to be an artist. That is the conviction of the Enugu-born artist. One is tempted to believe this, because of the obvious passion for the arts and the huge amount of art works he has put together – a whooping 5, 000 pieces, he boasts.

His paintings are haunting – the first I saw at an exhibition in December 2011, If Wishes were Horses valued at N1.5m, had me captivated by his skill and the depth of his work and I resolved to seek him out.

In his Buffalo Gallery in Abuja’s Arts and Craft Village I met a young woman studiosly mixing paints in front of an easel. Besides her was a beautifully finished self-portrait. She was a student, she said, she’s from one of the universities, on training with Ikenna. She is one of three being trained by the master.

Ikenna himself was beginning a sketch on a canvass propped against the wall. He looked relaxed with his trademark beanie cap as he drew rapidly lines on the canvass, pausing every now and then to examine how he was progressing. He prides himself in the originality of his works. His inspiration is intrinsic and he believes he must have been an artist even before his conception.

“Arts is never a victim of circumstances in my life. If my mother’s womb could be examined I am sure I did some work in her womb. Artists are made not born, like angels,” he said laughing.

Growing up in Enugu, Ikenna, would abandon his regular academic works in favour of his passion. He would paint and draw on every available space. He called it baptism.

“I baptised every space with art works because there is art in the spaces begging to come out,” he said. He made arts with everything – charcoal sketches on fences, pencil drawings in his books, even the splatter of his piss on the wall.

But his parents didn’t find this obsession amusing and they wanted their son to be more serious with his studies.

“My parents beat the hell out of me to stop my art. if it had been ordinary inspiration, I would have given it up,” he said with a rueful smile.

His choice of the word baptism to describe his obsession was not accidental it seems. Ikenna talks about man and his relationship with God a lot. He believes God is the greatest artist ever by virtue of His wonderful creations and for whatever reason, Ikenna thinks there could be an arts studio somewhere in heaven.

Despite the repeated beatings though, Ikenna would not give up his love for arts so he went on to study painting at IMT, Enugu where he graduated in 1998. He immediately swung into full time painting, preferring to work in mixed media using sand, saw dust, plastic straw and even bottle crowns as raw materials.

There is always a fine finish to Ikenna’s works, strong and gracious lines, exquisite curves and an affinity for the female form. I asked him about the latter.

“Yes, who no like embrace the champion?” he asked in pidgin and laughed. He however explained that he is still enamoured to his long dead mother and celebrates womanhood in his works

“It is a compliment to the female form. Even death can’t discontinue the love I have for my mother. And I like them too,” he added with a laugh.

And they too like him in return. He admits to many women appreciating his works and relating with them. But he is taken already; married to a fine woman presently in Jos, whom he says has special ways of appreciating his works.

Ikenna no doubt is living the dream; he is doing what he strongly believes he is born to do. But for an artist, there will always be challenges. Ikenna had recently relocated from Enugu to Abuja.

In the six months since his move, he finds that the capital has been very accommodating and feels like a celebrity already. He has been featured on TV and in newspapers and people acknowledge him even on the streets.

But the Arts and Craft Village wasn’t bustling with admirers and connoisseurs on the day of our chat. Few visitors were seen wandering about, looking at the works on display. But he has grown beyond this setting and talks excitedly about the presence of his works in homes across the world.

Ikenna believes he will never be poor. “My paintings are like landed property,” he said making references to masters such as Pablo Picasso and how the values of their works have risen after their deaths.

This brought us to an important point in the conversation; his N1.5 m valued work, if he sees an eager market for it.

“Before me there have been great artists like Ben Enwonwu and Bruce Onabrakpeya and so many others and Onabrakpeya sold one of his works for seven million and there was another one sold for nine million even though it wasn’t sold by him directly,” he said.

But he also laments that business has been slow of recent as expatriates who regularly frequent the Arts and Craft Village no longer do so in droves because of “this boko everything,” he said, referring to the security challenges facing the country.

Even at that, he cast a longing eye at the sketch he is working on and it is easy to see that he is confident in the future even if the present is bleak.

But one thing is certain; Ikenna Udeh Buffalo is steadily carving his glowing niche in the pantheon of Nigerian arts.