‘My headmaster reported me to my parents for drawing’

Ehikhamenor, who has designed numerous newspapers and magazines has, also exhibited his works in the US and Nigeria and published his essays and fiction in numerous academic journals and mainstream magazines with his satirical, creative non-fiction book EXCUSE ME! published by Parresia to some critical acclaim. He talks about his arts and influences in this […]

Ehikhamenor, who has designed numerous newspapers and magazines has, also exhibited his works in the US and Nigeria and published his essays and fiction in numerous academic journals and mainstream magazines with his satirical, creative non-fiction book EXCUSE ME! published by Parresia to some critical acclaim. He talks about his arts and influences in this interview. Enjoy!

Victor, how does one live with so much talent and excel at all; writing, photography and visual arts among others?
By making sure you work hard at them all, all the time and never relent. Also approaching things from the perspective that you can do better and surround yourself with good people, one can not do it all by himself.

Which one came first, photography, arts, or writing?
Art came first. I have been drawing since I was a kid, say 4 or 5. My headmaster went to report me to my parents that I was not paying attention and was always drawing on my slate, that was when I was in Infant One. Followed by photography because my uncle was a renowned photographer and whenever he visited from America, my village would go agog, I began to mimic his antics with a toy camera. Plus the village was vibrant with the most colourful photographers you could ever imagine. Writing was later as an adult, that is if we don’t want to count when I started writing letters for old men and women in the village at age 9 or 10, where I have to translate Esan to English and read it back to them so they were assured you knew what the heck you were doing.

Interesting. I remember reading your piece in Excuse Me! about the dying art of letter writing. Can you tell us one of your most memorable moments writing letters even when you were so young?
There are too many because it was a very regular thing for me, writing for old folks and writing love letters in school. But one that came to mind was when I finished writing a letter for one old woman and she wouldn’t stop praying for me, the prayer was unusually long, when she finally stopped she made me understand that while I was away on holiday, she went to meet a boy who was much older than me and the boy made her sit for hours without being able to write the letter for her. In other words, it wasn’t every one that was a student in the village that could write letters back then.

Which of the three areas has given you the greater satisfaction?
It has to be art because it is quite therapeutic for me when I am stressed and sad. And also I can pretty much draw anywhere and anytime as long as I have a pen and a paper, it is almost effortless due to constant engagement. Drawing keeps me focused and happy. Writing is a bit tough because one has to paint with words, and finding the right words to convey ideas and make meanings can be tedious. But once I get into it, it becomes enjoyable – it is just that entry point that is cumbersome.

Your book Excuse Me! generated a lot of buzz when it came out, and has been sold out since. Did you anticipate that reception?
People liked my take on issues when I was writing the column for NEXT newspapers, I expected some good reception for the book form but not the overwhelming result that followed when it was released. It was encouraging to say the least.

You have an MA in creative writing and your first published book is creative-nonfiction. What informed that decision?
Actually it’s MFA. I am a writer and can not be restricted to any particular form or genre. I write both fiction and non-fiction, it just happened that the non-fiction was ready for publication as a collection of already written essays at the time. There was no conscious decision to come out with a non-fiction first. Also I have been publishing short stories in journals and magazines as well.

Is there any creative fiction in the works?
Yes there is.

Can you tell us something about it, or are you afraid of jinxing it?
I don’t believe in jinx, just there is nothing much to say about it other than I am working on a work of fiction.

Fair enough, I guess. Recently at the Ake Festival you exhibited ‘In the Lion’s Lair’, photos of Wole Soyinka in his home. What was it like photographing such a personality as Soyinka?
It was different from photographing any other subject, I was multitasking like crazy. I was doing video clips, listening to him which is really pleasurable and learning a lot from his views on a whole lot of things and at the same time trying to get the best photographs of him. At some point things became surreal, especially when it started to rain and when it thundered he went into this heavy incantations, and I felt I was photographing a god that suddenly came alive. What is important in photographing Soyinka was that opportunity to get close to him in his innermost sanctuary, surrounded by what he love as in arts, books, food, family and wine.

Soyinka was at Ake, where these photos were exhibited. What was his reaction to them?
I have a feeling he loved them and was quite surprised at the way the images turned out. I quietly followed him while he was touring the exhibition and you could see a tinge of smile or some serious contemplative look on his face. When he got to one black and white portrait, he said, “That’s very striking, he looks like me”.

Do you find that your multiple fields of interests converge when you witness an event, such that you see something through the eyes of an artist, writer or photographer. And when this happens, what determines which medium you choose to capture that experience?
Sometimes all three come to play at once. Also it depends on the event, because as an artist (writer, painter, photographer) you must observe intensely and differently from others, constructing and deconstructing at the same time without really knowing why until much later. Also you are very quick in consuming what is happening around you which can then later be processed and refined, what artistic expression you decide to interpret your observations with then depends on various things. However for me photography is more immediate these days when it comes to capturing experiences and events.

There is an identity to your art that makes it stand out, it is usually in black and white, it is creatively congested with different shapes. How did you come about this style? What is the philosophy behind this?
I knew early in my career that style is the man as the saying goes, so I honed it though I veer off experimentally every now and then from what you easily recognize as my style. On the signs and symbols in my works I was lucky enough to have a reference point from my village as a child. The walls of homes and shrines and sacred places were replete with depictions of similar drawings and I had no idea I was consuming my traditional ideograms  as a kid when I was replicating them in drawing books. Now I just reinterpret them in my own way and transfer them to canvas and papers. As I grow older and bolder Oscar Wilde’s words ring loud in my ears, “I don’t wish to sign my name, though I am afraid everybody will know who the writer is, one’s style is one’s signature always.” In my case, everybody will know who the artist is.

You were living in the United States until your return to Nigeria in 2008. What has been different for you since then? How has this affected your work?
Everything. I have made beautiful and better friends that have my back since I have been back. I feel at home everyday now and not like a tight-rope walker way up there between heaven and hell, something akin to purgatorial living. My creative output has increased tremendously and appreciated. I can do whatever I set my mind to as long as they legal and worthy of my time. I am not just surviving mentally and physically, I am living and vividly alive. I am contributing a very tiny quota to my nation in the culture sector by doing what I do, and there is no greater feeling of joy than that.