Nigerian painter Oluseyi Soyege shines at US art exhibition

Oluseyi Soyege, a painter and sculptor, was the only Nigerian artist who participated in the 2021 edition of the Color: Story exhibition in Houston, Texas, US.

The Color: Story is a dynamic community event, which features art openings, book readings, and poetry slam.

During the exhibition, which started on April 17 and ended on May 8, visual art was paired with poetry.

Soyege specialises in the sensual nature of art, using colours, texture and symbols to depict his works.

Mostly abstract and hyper-realistic in nature, his works explore the relationship among textures, shapes and colours. He also uses scrap materials to creatively capture images.

At the exhibition, the works of 20 artists were paired with local, national, and international poets.

The poets read their work while each piece of visual art in the exhibit was inspired by and contained words of the poetry of a single writer.

Soyege’s paintings christened ‘Colorful and Solace’ were paired with the poetry of Rachel Brown titled ‘She and A church Mother’s Hat’.

The exhibition was initiated by Leslie Gaworecki and Marlo Saucedo, two visual artists, to bridge literary and visual creative worlds.

Soyege attended the Houston Community College and the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH).

He has snagged numerous honours for his works including the Ogie Le Meridian Award in 2007 and the Club Award in 2014.