The Wire Painter

Happy mothers day

Copper wire pliability and flexibility gives plenty possibilities. Its nature gives me ample opportunity to create each of the cowries shape that were woven around the rattles musical instrument Yoruba usually "sekere". I coiled the copper wires with one of my tools called cooling Gizmo. The cone like small rattles around the helm of the talking drum was created with the wire tools called mandrel 4X and round nose plier. The rope like handle of the talking drum was woven with French knitter tool before pasting it on board. All the aforementioned tools were posted with the artwork.
Besides, the above copper wire painting of African musical instruments were produced with different colours of wires, namely: sliver, black, light gold, champagne gold, supa blue, supa ice blue, vivid red, mid brown and warm gold.

Title: Transient beauty
Size: 24 by 36 inches
Medium:Copper wire on board
Year: 2022
Transient beauty.

Beauty is a quality that usually compels attention and arouses awe, love, but strangely, sometimes, lust!

Beauty is a natural endowment that is found among men, women and animals alike. In its prime, beauty can be radiant, fascinating and awesome. However, as desirable and lovely as beauty is, it is delicate and has a body that breaks too soon. In its transientness, it passes away so quickly, as if it was never there.

No wonder, the all time great Greek philosopher, Plato equates superficial beauty with fleeting life phenomena. He writes, "sexual interest, the sense of beauty and reference for the sacred are proximate state of mind which fleet into one another and grow from a common root".

On the other hand one of the greatest Yoruba philosophers, Rowland Abiodun aptly captures true beauty in the Yoruba apothegm " Iwa l'ewa (character is beauty)'.

In my present work, I attempt the portrayal of 'outer (superficial) beauty' as described by Plato, and as against inner beauty, as exemplified by Rowland Abiodun's submission.

In the present work, I depict the portrait of a woman with an 'afro' hair style. The hair is rendered with sweet colour roses and exotic flower types; an indication of the euphemerality of her beauty. Many flowers are known to bloom at the rising of the sun, but by the evening time, they wither.

The painting teaches moral lesson to both men and women to look beyond the cosmetics, make-ups and online packaging in their choice of friends and life partners.