Everything about me has been artistry -O’Chris

A quintessential world class painter, sculptor and art teacher, Mr. Chris Nwoke also called O’Chris, whose works are being celebrated indifferent parts of the world visited Nigeria recently.

In this interview with AD DIKE, he speaks on his works and career within and outside Nigeria.

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“African art will rule the world” was a statement Mr. Chris Nwoke popularly known as O’Chris made many years ago before he thought of travelling abroad.  Today, that inspirational and prophetic statement has come true in his life as he is continuously being celebrated as one of the best visual artist and teacher in many parts of the world including Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

A native of Orogwe in Imo State, Nigeria, O’Chris’ specializes in sculpture and painting. His grandfather, Chief Osai, was a traditional wood carver who used to carve traditional masks. So Chris joined his grandfather to carve masks when he was seven years old. “I picked everything about carving from my grandfather,” he explained.

 After his secondary education, he proceeded to a higher institution and acquired Advanced Diploma in Design. In 1988, he established his gallery known as ‘O’Chris Art Gallery’ at 28 Murtala Mohammed International Airport Road, Lagos, Nigeria, where he trained over 100 artists.

Many Nigerian artists like to reside in Nigeria and exhibit within and outside Nigeria but he sojourned to another clime and continued from there. Asked why he relocated abroad, he said: "I invested the totality of my gift to art industry in Nigeria. I have trained a lot of artists and it seemed they were doing the same thing I was doing.  So, I decided to look outwardly and get inspired by other people. After reaching a level in Nigeria, I wanted to expand and I believe that travelling out is a different thing entirely. You will learn a lot and also showcase them.

“I closed my gallery and relocated to the Republic of Ireland in 2005 and never stopped carving, painting and sculpturing because this is what I have been doing all my life.”

While in Ireland, he had a lot of positions that were related to artistry. He held many exhibitions in Waterford and Dublin which attracted a lot of patronage as well as attention from many art collectors and the media. He ran a lot of projects for the Irish government relating to art, using art to integrate communities.

Through his impressive and unique works, he became a director for St. Patrick’s festival. He was commissioned to choreograph and design St. Patrick costumes, organize workshop training for different communities and many schools. He spent two weeks in Mount Sion Primary School working on Hallowe’en paintings and masks with the third, fourth, fifth and sixth year students.

He helped the community to win two awards. Through his collaboration with the St. Patrick’s organization, he was awarded Artist of the Year in 2007. O’Chris became the first black man to be honoured with the Award of St. Patrick of Waterford by Mary O’Halloran, which made him to become one of the most published artists in Irish newspapers.

He relocated to Toronto Canada in 2009, where he is also showcasing his artistry. His works was showcased at the Toronto Round House at the exhibition tagged: ‘Be amazed,” which took place from June 6^th to July 3th 2013.

 “Everything about me has been artistry. I can never stop doing art. Why Nigerians are not seeing my works in Nigeria is because I am based abroad where I am doing what I know how to do best –art,” he said.

“I do art therapy. I use artistry to complement healing. It is a kind of focusing on the positivity of artistry. When you use artistry to complement healing, the way you can drive it is by focusing on artistry that can bring positivity to the state of mind of the patient to help him to be more positive. The only way you can bring that encouragement is through painting. A lot of people have benefited from that.”

He noted how lucrative art therapy is by saying that “it is like being a nurse, medical doctor or a social worker. It is very lucrative. It is part of what I have done. I don’t just do art therapy in Canada, I teach Art. I run project with different communities including Native Americans. I am in the board of many organizations. These are parts of the things I have been doing,” he emphasized.
Do you have regrets relocating abroad? He was asked. “No. it is a thing of joy when I look back and see the gain. It does not mean there are no obstacles but, when I look at what I have gained. Everything is about it. I nod my head and say, I did the right thing. I was not into Art Therapy before I relocated.

“I have been able to advance more in my profession. I went back to school in Canada to study Tourism and I am a tourist expert now. I have been able to get myself exposed to different parts of artistry. I am not just an artist I do a lot of things. I am into engineering. If I did not travel out, I would have still been working within the scope of what I learnt then. I have been able to merge different cultures and different style into what I have.”

Having spent a couple of years abroad, he was asked to compare art as a profession abroad and in Nigeria. According to him, “It is just like asking me to compare and contrast the music being played in Nigeria with the one being played abroad. They are all just art, no one is better, no one is worse. Art is art. It depends on individual, the perspective you are looking at artistry and at times, what you are looking for. Some people go for African art, some go for contemporary art, some go for different kinds of art, but they are all artistry.

Asked the kinds of challenges he’s facing doing art abroad, he said: “When I had challenges was when I was trying to make my signature known at the initial time because if you are not known, it will be difficult for you to penetrate the market at the initial stage. It was quite challenging for me when I got to Europe, but with persistence, I kept knocking because it is what I have passion for. I love what I am doing so I see more opportunities than setbacks. I try to focus more on the positive aspect of what I am looking for, not dwelling on the negative aspect of what I am seeing within me. If one can reduce the negativity to zero and focuses on the positive aspect, challenges mean nothing.”

If he had not been doing art, he said he would have been a comedian because, “I am a very funny person. I love standup comedy and I have done it before. I acted in some movies and all these still revolve around artistry. Maybe, I would have also been a musician because I love singing.”

O’Chris was elated when he visited Lagos Island, last Sunday and saw an artwork he did in 1988 (27 years ago). He shares his view on that work by saying, “I did that particular work in 1988 and it is one of my major projects that projected me to a high level in Nigeria. It was commissioned to me by the chief executive officer of a merchant bank.  Then, concept was to dwell on the rich people that patronized the banking industry. When you look at the work, you will see the rich apparel of the people. The cowry in it tells a story of monetary transaction in Nigeria. Also, the kobo sign is there. The way the couple held hands together is called bonding. The hand of the man that protects the cowry and the kobo shows how the banking industry can protect your money. The couple is standing with one leg which means the unity in the banking industry.

“Actually, one of my dreams which made me to visit Nigeria was to visit some of my works. It was heart-breaking when I saw it. Inside me, I realized how blessed I was. When I look at the sculpture I did 27 years ago still standing and people still appreciating it is awesome. When I was touched so much was when I sat near the sculpture to take a picture, some men rushed me and my friends that went with me, saying, “You can’t just snap our god! This is the god that we worship so we won’t allow you to snap it just like that”.

“I almost wept, though people around me did not know how I felt. Seeing people calling what I did with my hands ‘god’ made me weep. I was amazed. It recalls back when I was installing the work and people fell on it and made enchantment on it. So coming back again and seeing the same I begin to see how blessed I am. It tells me that I am not just an ordinary human being but an extraordinary person. It means I am blessed so, I have to be careful with what I do with my life. It is encouraging and fulfilling. It is like I came here and people are talking about big cars, big houses and big money but, that work is totality of everything. When I got to the sculpture, I said, “This is it!” I bowed down and kissed the ground. It means everything to me seeing my handiwork graced an entrance of a building, man sees it, spirits see it, normal people see it and so on.  It blew my mind; that is my joker and I cannot wait to talk about it and show it people.

“It was like a memory lane when I visited where my gallery used to be. I reflected and realized that many have died and I am still alive after 27 years I started it. I realized that my life has changed for better. I evaluated my life and saw the obstacles and challenges and saw the awards, victory and honour that followed my struggle as a young artist. It is amazing and it is like a pat on my back.”

Though the bank that gave O’Chris the contract to produce the artwork is no longer there, he said he doesn’t feel bad about it. “The most important thing is that the work is still there, that is what gives me joy. It blesses the spirit and the physical man. People go there everyday. It is like a market place where both people and spirit visit.”

He mentioned the late renowned artists, Ben Enwonwu and Fred Archibong, as his mentors in art world.

O’Chris advised Nigerian artists to be patient despite the fact that it is tough. He also admonished them to be focused and believe in themselves. “It may not make sense to people but it may make sense to you. I was like a lunatic when I started my gallery. But it took a long time for everybody to change their mindset and began to see me as a star. They started coming close to me. Be patient, one day, your light will shine,” he reiterated.