March 24, 2024

The Claver Magazine

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I See My Art Work Representing Nigeria In High Standards Few Years From Now-Ekene, Visual artist

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Peterclaver Egbochue

Professional visual artist, Ekene Ngige, has said that his art work would represent Nigeria at international art shows, galleries and art fairs in the nearest future.

 The graduate of Yaba College of Technology well known for painting with coffee disclosed that a minor accident in a meeting which resulted in his cup of coffee spilling over his paper turned out to inspire him to create a very unique painting which is now accepted and admired by international art lovers.

Speaking to The Claver Magazine at the unveiling of ‘ATFRIKA FEST’, a celebration of creative Art and Craft, in Ikeja, Lagos recently, Ekene said he had always wanted to be a painter, an artiste.

He further said, “So I started with painting with butter colour and oil, coffee came as an accident, there was an accident that happened during a meeting and my cup of coffee spilled on my paper and I liked the colour. So it inspired me to go back to my studio to try it on my paper or canvas to see what it will look like at first and incidentally I liked the outcome and the texture.

“By the time I started making a few artworks on paper with coffee, I realized that there were few American and European coffee artistes as well that were existing out there. It was not like I knew about them. No, I discovered that myself. What they didn’t have was painting coffee on canvas which I later tried to establish. So I started creating my coffee on canvas and papers and it made a difference.

Mr Ekene Ngige doing his thing.

“It was a turning point for me because it was something unique and very different. I love coffee as a drink and I love this color of coffee and so having an artwork that has this kind of aroma around it was something unique. It was like two in one. A lot of coffee lovers liked it for the same reason. It has been attracting a lot of international people. Like you know, there are a lot of coffee lovers as well as art lovers out there and being able to appreciate the two at the same time is like a big deal for them.

“Five years from now, I see my work being exhibited in a couple of international art galleries, international art shows and fairs, I see my work representing Nigeria in high standards. I see secondary schools and universities putting coffee painting in their curriculum.”

Mr Ngige whose parents wanted to become a medical doctor in his early days in the secondary school stated that he had to fight his way through before winning his parents over to his side when he began to win awards in competitions, adding that everybody is proud of him now.

“Actually, my family was not supportive at first. My parents wanted me to be a doctor, art work back then, represented poverty. They felt that as a disabled person, you need to make money to be able to take care of yourself and all that. At first, I had to fight my way through it. At some point when they saw that I was winning art competitions and representing my school in secondary school and winning prizes, they could not fight it anymore and now, everybody is proud of me,” he said.