The Image of Belonging: Solomon Omogboye

Solomon Omogboye is a contemporary impressionist painter born in 1982 in Lagos, Nigeria.  Omogboye's style in painting is like woven, long, linear strokes of colour, or light. Often, the airy veil of dramatic light moving in air or ground envelops the strong composition of his forms. Lively paintings of figures are characterized by energetic, bold strokes, layered in thick patches on canvas, to depict playful expressions of human anatomy.

 

Omogboye describes his conceptual process as one of "breaking down the overall composition into the separate elements that harness human emotion", and he is enthused by the way "even the smallest changes in each affect the mood and feeling of the work". Omogboye sees each subject as a synergy of intense, complex aspects that perfectly capture and preserve emotion, expression, concern, and wonder. He shares in his paintings what he hopes others also get to feel in their lives: awe, wonder, excitement, gratitude, appreciation, joy, hope, freedom, acceptance and curiosity.

 

Within the reality of a life that never seems to be the way we want it to be, Omogboye's work draws attention to the equal constant of people living that life as best they can, regardless. In his words: "There is no perfect life, but we can fill it with perfect moments. Life is a learning experience, and when we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change."