When Ebele Okoye was
invited to give her art philosophy for this exhibition, she responded:
"I read the Artist's Statement I wrote for my first exhibition
Storms of the Heart and I find that NOTHING has changed in what
I feel is my CAUSE in art. If I am asked today to say something about
my work, I would STILL say the same things but in a DIFFERENT form of
expression." Below is what she had said then.
STORMS OF THE HEART
If every human being
should have thirty seconds in life to hold court and express his or
her feelings for that particular period, social and economic activities
would stall for at least some hundreds of years for this privilege to
go round.
We all have different
faces, go about different occupations yet, we are all the same…we all
learn to laugh, dream, and everyone knows the sting of pain. Deep down
in our hearts are emotions that linger at the corners. For some, these
could be identified as something "concrete." For others, they are just
flashes of thoughts, needs, desires, and memories. The way a waft of
scent reminds you of a particular incident or time in your life, or
the sight of a fatal crash makes one momentarily philosophical, wondering
about the essence of life and suddenly realising that "anybody is a
target."
There are other moments
of "joy-that-bubbles." In these moments one believes that everything
is possible, we wish for an opportunity to hug an enemy and say "it's
alright...truce!" Sometimes, it doesn't really happen so fast, rather,
it nags and drags until the opportunity comes after the urge is gone.
There are also childhood memories - either sweet or sour... These moments
I try to express in my art. These feelings could be ignited by anything
from the mundane...to a new development in our UNPREDICTABLE society...Stories
I'd heard…stories that touched, fascinated and affected me...Unanswered
questions....
