Your name OC George Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria Place where you live now Lagos, Nigeria 3 words to describe you Curious, Passionate, Open-minded Why do you take pictures? To freeze time because the human memory is often constantly rewriting the past Where do you get your inspiration? The human condition is an intriguing and ever-evolving thing to observe and participate in. Who are your influences? I stand on the shoulders of so many giants such as the brilliant painters: Zdzisław Beksiński and Francis Bacon and the inspiring cinematographers: Jarin Blaschke and Bradford Young What determines the subject matter you choose? Psychology plays a major role in my work, I’m often digging beneath the surface to understand the riddles of the human condition. What impact would you like your art to have? I want my work to to help us see ourselves. What artwork do you never get bored with? Yusaku Kamekura - Burning Butterflies (1983). The first poster in the Hiroshima Appeals series, an anti-war project inspired by the first atomic bomb used on mankind. Is there anything you want to add? Thank you
A multidisciplinary artist, my work can be succinctly described as ‘visual haikus’ that attempt to dissect and personally understand the riddles of the human condition.
Despite our natural and man-made faux divisions (culture, language, race, religion), the human condition is still universally similar; we all experience different shades of the same class struggle and hope and pain and loss. Through my work, I try to peel back the layers of these elements that unify us all, to give us a closer look into the details of our individual realities and remind us we are not as different as we think.
Sabbath Of The Damned Someone once asked about my religion, I told them I believe your belief should be personal and we had a long conversation on faith. At the end, I told them I hope they see the light one day, they wished me the same.
Handicapped Dreams As a Nigerian, you grow up realizing you are stuck in a box; the lack of opportunities and the prevalent nepotism in the country place a roof on your sky and limit how far you can dream. Handicapped Dreams mourns the dreams that have been killed by Nigeria and highlights how being a Nigerian can be like walking on a staircase that goes nowhere.
Face Me I Face You The face-me-I-face-you living spaces which are usually several single rooms lined up opposite each other in a small building provide a very insightful look into class distinctions: the real and the imagined. While one room typically houses a poor family of five, another room shelters a bachelor who constantly says “I’m just here temporarily”. As the most industrial state in Nigeria, Lagos is home to over 15 million people, a lot of whom migrated here to seek better futures but have eventually settled into the various layers of poverty which they bravely bear with the thought that “at least, I have a better life than my neighbor”.
