Lost Consciousness by Ken Nwadiogbu

LOST CONSCIOUSNESS.

KEN NWADIOGBU, FIGURATIVE HYPERREALIST, UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS (ALUMNI).

HRM OBA OF BENIN KINGDOM (FROM THE KING’S DIARY SERIES)

My art’s course is to pursue freedom, of expression and belief; and to promote the voices of those unheard. I have supported many campaigns off public media, and trained talents on techniques of pencil art for free, females especially, for the purpose of female empowerment. The Uproar of Feminism In the midst of much opposition, the feminist theme was brazenly brought to the fore in the late hours of the 19th century. Even more brazen today, is the followership of this rather unpopular course; evidently the turn of a new direction. In the yesteryears, this course was thought to be a religion of the westerners, but art is transcending boundaries to tell the woes and ways of the world.

The King’s Diary is an ongoing series that attempts to present African women in the light of kingly power; decorated in the regalia of the traditional rulers. The motive is to encourage the acceptance and respect otherwise ascribed to the kings of Africaand any realm, as a matter of fact- as a right of the African female, as is depicted in the art pieces. This new light will help see the girl-child in Sub-Saharan Africa, and all of Africa, as privileged as the sons, and not doomed to the woes of forbidden education, and early marriage against her will.

THE VALUE OF NOTHING I (FROM THE VALUE OF NOTHING SERIES)

A Drab Kind of Wisdom It is fool’s errand to count the trophies of science won, since Armstrong kissed the bald moon. These triumphs herald today’s man as wise, wiser, than ever. Indeed, man is reborn todaywithout the sense of yesterday. Today’s value is measured in the currency of money, fame and power, alone. As though it is by these vain pursuits that man has survived until now. Art does not forget though, that the strokes and swipes of yesterday were the result of a true grasp of the concept of value; the endurance that is earned by pain, and the dignity that does not lie. Consequently, this series questions today’s framework of values by suggesting that true worth is the self-worth that promotes a rather loud strength of character.

The Value Of Nothing The series employs the thought that the worth of man is not measurable by price-tag, possession, or prominence. This is a deliberate attempt to convince the audience that the depressing, suicidal thoughts and stories in the wind today – including those of the wealthy – are an indicator that true value lies in the conscious awareness, appraisal and appreciation of one’s own limits, abilities and potential as perceived by themselves and not some misguided spectator. The vanities of money, fame and power, are the placebo that prevent the realization that these alone, are nothing. To employ them as standards of measuring worth, or value, is to measure nothing.

THY BROTHER IS NOT THY BROTHER INDEED (FROM THE BLACK MENTALITY SERIES)

There is no bad colour. Or people. But there are circumstances that burn a certain perception into us all, so that we adopt a dominant spirit of thought. Or thoughts, and forge our strength of character. This series attempts to describe the emotions and circumstances that nurture this strength, and the chords that touch the circle of black. Of thoughts and people.

“The Black Mentality”

LOST CONSCIOUSNESS I (FROM THE NYLON SERIES)

There is no such thing as absolute. Nothing has been figured out, absolutely. There is no Nothing. There is no Everything. There is no, No. There is no There. Until there is.

Lost Consciousness We have queried the boundaries of existence, since the oracle gained its eye. Yet, our perception is informed by an awareness of what is only visible or palpable, much like a bandit scaling walls with veiled eyes. We do not see, but do not know. There is no firm conviction of what is. But there is the frame of fear that boxes a certain ‘big picture’ into our perspective. The Lost Consciousness represents an inquiry into how all humanity interprets what is perceived, as influenced by our fears and deep beliefs; some sort of veil, thin enough to distract us from our purpose.

The Nylon Series This series attempts to describe how unaware we are, of the grand scale of things, and how we grope for purpose; seemingly attainable, but unseen yet. It is this sense of purpose, but ultimate lack of it, that influences our probe for answers to life’s big questions. This consciousness- or lack of it- informs notions of racial superiority, promotes gender inequalities, and every moral and religious thought ever raised; from the ineffable eureka of Isaac Newton, as he found the key to atomic genocide, to the simplest sigh of a newborn. This is the hymn of this band. For Consciousness. For Purpose. For Direction.

IF I START TO TALK II (FROM THE ÓKÓTÓGBAM SERIES)

“If I Start to Talk II” is the second in a series of works that is inspired by the current socio-political state of my country, Nigeria. It is a self portrait hyperrealistic drawing, where I peer through large tears shaped as “word”, an Nsibidi symbol from Ekoi, Cross River, in sheets of Old Newspaper collage. Both tear and Old Newspaper, at once metaphors the headlines and eagerness to publicise the declining socio-political structure of Nigeria. “See Nothing” and “Say Nothing” is symbolic to showcasing the resistance of the society, to see and to speak about this state of gradual decline.

This work is done in a form of protest, urging Nigerians to sit up and pay attention to what matters the most, to promote good leadership and encourage a better society, because, indeed, Nigeria is in it’s Twilight.