Selected Works 2023 - 2024
Hey, I’m Kodinna Ume-Onyido, but call me Kodi...
I’m a Nigerian-Canadian multidisciplinary artist currently in my 4th year of architectural studies at the University of Toronto. By combining perspectives from architectural design, creative writing, and filmmaking, my artistic practice is often layered, experimental, and cross disciplinary. While exploring concepts of the self, family, and sensory experiences, my work is heavily informed by identity and reimagining memory. As an emerging visual artist, I specialize in acrylic painting and video installations.
Before starting a piece, I appreciate researching historical artists and contemporaries alike. Several artists/authors I draw inspiration from are Jacob Lawrence, Keller Easterling, and Miles Greenberg.
Kodi Ume-Onyido Curriculum Vitae
Contact Information
Phone: 437-243-1400
Email: kd.umeonyido@gmail.com
Linkedin: Kodi Ume-Onyido
Socials: oga.kamu + kodi.artt
Education
Honors BA, Architectural Studies/Visual Studies
University of Toronto, St. George John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design
2021 - 2025 (Expected)
Group Art Exhibitions
Boxed In, Black Flourishing Exhibition
Handhelds as Catalysts , ATAF Exhibition
MIA: Mom Where Are You?, Talking Walls
Exhibition: Ephemeral Reverie
Self-Portrait with Three Hands , Revival Exhibition
Work Experience
University of Toronto: Research Assistant: Public Space/Housing
University of Toronto: Research Assistant: Housing Justice
BAIDA Students: Creative Arts Mentor
Daniels Faculty: Assistant Lead Installer/Documentation Lead
Extracurriculars
UofT Seismic Design Team: Architecture/Construction Specialist
Daniels Faculty: Undergraduate Mentor
Daniels Faculty: Orientation Leader
Skills and Mediums
•Sketching
•Acrylic Paint
•Watercolour
•Videography
•Photography
•Clay Sculpting
•Caulking
•Wood Carving
•Casting
•Collaging
Toronto, ON Toronto, ON
Toronto, ON Toronto, ON
June 2023- June 2024
Apr 2024- Apr 2024
Feb 2024- Mar 2024
Jan 2024- Feb 2024
Remote
Toronto, ON
Hybrid, ON
Toronto, ON
July 2024- Present
Oct 2023- Apr 2024
Jan 2024- Apr 2024
July 2023- Aug 2023
Hybrid, ON
Toronto, ON
Toronto, ON
July 2023- Apr 2024
Sept 2023- Apr 2024
Aug 2023- Sept 2023
Acrylic Installation Group Exhibition
Self-Portrait with Three Hands
Three 12” canvasses attached to one 30” x 30” x 1.5” canvas, 2023
In “Self-Portrait with Three Hands” Kodi adopts an introspective mindset that forces him to reflect on his vocations and contemplate how they affect his sense of self. He renders an expressionless high school version of himself with grey values, making him comparable to a “clean slate” or a canvas waiting to be painted. Three movable vibrant hands are attached to the portrait, each one holding a tool that represents one of Kodi’s passions: a mechanical pencil for architectural drafting, a pen and note for literature, and a paint brush for visual arts. The dominant colours present in the hands are projected onto parts of his body, showing how each passion make him who he is.
Showed at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design (1 Spadina Cres,Toronto, ON)
M.I.A: Missing (Mother) in Action
Three 24” x 24” x 1.5” canvasses, 2023
Acrylic Open Call Installation Group Exhibition
In this series of acrylic paintings, Kodi investigates the idea of shared childhood experiences through a recollection of his own memory. By utilizing one point and two point perspectives, he recreates core childhood scenes that are connected through the temporary absence of his mother. Beginning with his first piece “Mom Where Are You? It’s Scary Here,” Kodi paints a lost child in Zellers, a discount store chain that closed down in 2013. The strangers that surround the child are reduced to abstracted figures, referencing their vagueness in Kodi’s memory, but are numerous and bear an overwhelming presence.
He renders each piece with a colourful palette that pays homage to the playfulness of childhood, but uses muted tones and flat layers to instil a feeling of anxiety to enhance moments he remembers as surreal experiences.
Installed at the Hart House Center on University of Toronto Campus
Handhelds as Catalysts
Five 19” x 15” x 1.5” canvasses, 2023
Acrylic
Open Call
Diptych
Installation Group
Exhibition
In this series of acrylic paintings, Kodi depicts his dominant hand holding a variety of everyday objects within their corresponding environment. These works display how a seemingly common tool is transformed into a prominent inducer of stress once it is grasped by his right hand. As he experimented with colour, he became more invested in the idea of showing moods and feelings through the manipulation of colour temperatures and paintings styles with emphasis on each hand.
The chaos, order, joy, disgust, and anxiety that is experienced on a daily basis can all be found in the respective hands. It was imperative to paint every side of the canvas and align the visuals with both the setting of each still life and the one point perspectives
Installed at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design (1 Spadina Cres,Toronto, ON)
2:43s Iphone DSLR
Pulsing: A Sensory Experience
Video installation, 2023
In “Pulsing,” KODI explores themes such as self awareness, strife, and temporarily through a clever manipulation of the everyday spatial qualities of a small apartment room and an exercise area, with a special emphasis on the sound of a heartbeat. KODI creates a breathtaking experience by inviting viewers to take part in the tense atmosphere present in the short film. The two scenes depicted: a young man battling sleep paralysis, and an athlete performing conditioning training, are a dynamic investigation of the overwhelming power a heartbeat holds, and the emotions it both evokes and installs.
Please click here to watch:
https://youtu.be/NyERL7--56E?si=aIwDsjEc8zTrEeYq
3:57s Iphone DSLR
Just After 8(am)
Video installation, Winter 2024
This marks the third video in the “Just After Series,” and is the first one that is recorded in the morning. ‘Just After 8” reenacts my general morning routine, but draws inspiration from common conversations with my own father. Themes of paternal relationships, pressure and expectations, and values are explored through the simple interplay between mundane scenes and a father’s words. Rhythmic tapping can be heard throughout the film which controls not only the pacing, but creates an ominous atmosphere that is complimented by moments of complete silence. “Just After 8” is a short that emphasizes the difference in values between a father and son by investigating one’s experiences versus one’s genuine advice.
Please click here to watch: https://youtu.be/gzFiDRMdSc8?si=bUxbUZwSTvGVwSqX
