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- Artist Statement
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painting

ÀṢẸ: Embodying the Divine is an echo of the vitality of Yorùbá knowledge systems, practices, beliefs, and philosophies as a means for VILLAGER’s knowingness and belonging in the world - a humble reverence to their ancestral heritage, cultural expressions, beliefs, and practices. Using the energetic likeness (àwòrán) of family members, loved ones, and acquaintances, VILLAGER ritually engages their subjects in a spiritual rebirth of consciousness, transporting the subjects, the viewer, and themselves to a dynamic and holistic space where energy is experienced with an intrinsic sensitivity to color and texture. Following in the Yorùbá tradition of wood-working, the artist uses acrylic to graft the subjects with vibrational scars of energy potential characterized by weaving-like angular patterns akin to Yorùbá weaved fabrics and Ilé-Ifẹ̀ bronze heads to reimagine and subvert traditional portraiture. The divine potential of the subjects is materially transformed and manifested through the process of scarification, mark-making, and pattern-making to enlighten their character and essential nature (ìwà). Manifested as a portal of gaze and an object of corporality, the cowrie-studded eye (òjú ìnù) is meticulously placed on the physical head (òrì òdè) in place of a physical eye to inform the inner spiritual consciousness and potency (òrì ìnù) of the subjects. This ritual of adornment also pays homage to Èṣù, the Òrìṣà of crossroads, the enforcer of all divine laws who implores us to seek balance and harmony with the ALL. ÀṢẸ: Embodying the Divine is a reminder that we are indeed divine force incarnate. It commands us to BE divine- to embrace energy as a tangible unit of all existence and become one with the source of ALL energy. How will this surrender to the truth of divine potential empower us to evoke, transform, embrace, and embody change? In what ways will this reconfiguration manifest through our beings? How will this reconnection place us in divine harmony with our purpose of being? with our spirit, actions, community, ancestors, nature, and the divine ALL?

ÀṢẸ: EMBODYING THE DIVINE (2023 - ongoing)

VILLAGER's practice employs a methodology they have coined as "AFRO-ABSTRACTURE." The visualization of this method is channeled through the abstract non-figurative intuitive exploration of the work itself- using color, texture, and line patterns to manipulate or mimic African traditional fabrics. Their work strives to capture this tactile essence transformed into visually striking, bold, and spiritually charged aesthetic forms that possess "ASE”- a spatially polychronic Yoruba concept of command, energy, power (given or received), authority, creativity, and divine life force in all living and non-living things. By featuring both visual and contextual embodiments of cowries, African traditional carved wood figurines and masks, materials/objects/totems of cultural significance, and various elements of Yoruba and African spirituality practices and rituals, VILLAGER's work investigates how historical African art, cultural practices, and knowledge systems continue to inform and shape contemporary expressions and experiences.

AFROABSTRACTURE (2023 -)

PORTAL series (2023 - ongoing)

BUSH BOY (2022)

© VILLAGER, 2025 linktree | available works

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