‘It was taboo for women to sculpt’

Ndidi Dike is one of Nigeria’s leading women in the visual arts sector. Her various forms of expressive art from mixed media, sculpture, painting and installation among others have earned her a place on the global art scene where her works are exhibited. She speaks on beginning studio practice in the mid-80s and remaining one […]

Ndidi Dike is one of Nigeria’s leading women in the visual arts sector. Her various forms of expressive art from mixed media, sculpture, painting and installation among others have earned her a place on the global art scene where her works are exhibited. She speaks on beginning studio practice in the mid-80s and remaining one of Nigeria’s most prominent artists with over 30 years of professional practise.

Do you think art is becoming more decorative than dealing with national issues?
I don’t necessarily agree with that and I wonder on what premise anybody would say so. Because I would say that a lot of art you see is not decorative art. There is a distinction between the two.

An installation in your exhibition earlier this year is dedicated to the Chibok girls. As an artist, how did you receive the news of their kidnap and the trend their story has taken over time?
I would start by saying that work took me two years to make. I started it when I initially heard the news about their abduction. It got me thinking. I mean, it is so tragic and sad, that up till now over 200 girls are still missing. I looked at the conceptualisation of this work through many prisms. Within the picture of patriarchy hegemony displayed in Nigeria and on the continent. I was trying to expand the conversation as to how women, the widows, the girl child and all other relevant issues are looked at. The title, ‘How much am I worth?’ sums up everything appropriately with particular emphasis on the whole saga of politics, greed, corruption, etc that surround not only the issue of the return of the Chibok girls but other pertinent issues in Nigeria.

Why did you start off with Music Education rather than go straight to study art?
Music was like a stepping stone for my direct entry into Fine Art. I decided to finish my music first, get my Diploma in Music Education majoring in Voice, that would enable me study the course of my dreams, Fine and Applied Art.

What do you do with your music?
Well, I am told by curators and art historians that there is a lot of rhythm and harmony in my work that probably comes from my musical background.

How would you assess art practice in Owerri when you started there in the 80s and what it is now?
I finished school in 1984 and opened a studio at the end of my youth service and I have been practising ever since. It was considered a bit of a taboo for a woman to go into sculpture. Women were expected back then to be graphic or textile artists. It was quite an uphill task and wasn’t looked on very favourably. In 2016 as an artist, you can use any medium you like. People are much more in tune with the current contemporary trends in terms of media. So it is a completely different ball game from what art was when I started out as a young artist in the mid-80s. Now it is not a problem at all and I don’t have to deal with the clichés and stereotypes I had to endure when I started out. Even though I majored in mixed media painting at university, when I came out I decided I wanted something more challenging and engaging. So I thought myself to sculpt. That’s how I became more known as a sculptor. Nowadays, due to my use of diverse media I may be known as a multidisciplinary artist.

 Which of the art forms you use best expresses you?
That’s a difficult question to ask. You have seen my installation on the Chibok girls, you can imagine what the young girls would have gone through, you can look at it in a wider context. There are so many layers to ‘How much am I worth?’ The truth about that particular work is that there is no way a painting would have adequately expressed what I visually had to say.  For me it is about what media specifically and appropriately puts across the clarity and integrity of my message or statement. It is not necessarily about which media I like best. In this day and age it is about what media best speaks to you and the audience about what you want to say as an artist.

Do you think that people who appreciate your work have a conflict about your kind of art and the mediums you use?
I don’t know why …. there are two ways to answer this question. One you have to ask them this but at the same time I can also say that a lot of academicians, art historians and curators who have been following my work are intrigued and can interpret how I keep using and reinventing different parts of me to express what I have to say. You see, one doesn’t want to remain permanent or static but would rather enthrall, question  and engage your audience. You have to keep pushing the boundaries, be in tune with the current trends in contemporary media that you can use in your professional practice as an artist.

Is there any particular material that bends and best listens to your commands?
I think what happens is that when I do decide to select the different materials to work with, I research and ponder over them for a long time (sometimes years).  The way I work with the material, actually comes from the material, itself, one develops a harmony, affinity and synergy that helps me decide on what I want to do and not  me deciding what I want to do before I start the creative process.
 
With an exhibition like ‘State of the Nation,’ how much do you think policy-makers are impacted by them?
You should ask the policy makers this. You know the country we live in.

In the process of creating a work, what gives you the most satisfaction?
There are three parts of the creative process I enjoy most. One is the actual production of the work, the other is the selection of materials and then when I finish everything and it is up on that large wall in the exhibition space and you see it, you have a sense of achievement, but are always critically thinking and judging that you could have done better.