Arts & Design

Sisiana Paulo Entices Lagos Audience with A Solo Show in September

Sisiano Paulo

 

Kokopelli Gallery, Ikoyi will be the destination of art enthusiasts and collectors this September as a new solo show titled ‘We are okay, but we are not like before’ takes Lagos by the storm.  Featuring over 20 recent works by the Nigerian-Italian artist, Sisiano Paolo, the show has as curator Ian Audifferen. The exhibition will open on September 3rd and runs till September 24th starts with a private viewing, strictly by invitation on Saturday, September 2nd, 2023.  The anticipated public opening is set for September 3rd while the artist talk holds on September 9.

We are okay but we are not like before’ explores the theme of self, navigated through the lens of dynamism in human experiences and the aftermath of these encounters. The notion that life is a sojourn of emotions with both positive and negative impact takes the foreground in this body of work.

“The oeuvre gives relevance to the idea that irrespective of inevitable and oftentimes irreparable changes, we emerge triumphant over our scars. If each time our hearts sank or jumped, we saw our tears in colour, maybe then would we truly understand how much pain or happiness a person or event once brought us. Not just in how the colours roll down but the patterns it creates, reminding us physically of something we felt heavily about,” Sisiano explains.

This is an interrogation of the duality of trauma and healing simultaneously wherein we traverse the path spotlighting how our lives are shaped by emotional responses to various past incidents and the overall present and future conditioning created from these events.

The exhibition features over 20 works ranging in technique and medium from ink to watercolor on paper to acrylic on canvas. It also infuses a technique Sisiano terms ‘scraping’, which is peculiar to the artist to fully give oneness to his magnum opus. Each exhibit depicts a strong narration of the past and current state of mind for every individual as seen in ‘One take’, a piece exploring the indefatigable dependence on crafting a future that differs from our past experiences, and the inestimable dependence on relationships, insofar that autonomy and self-dependence becomes a foreign pursuit as seen in ‘Fade Away’.

As a multifaceted artist, movement is a central theme in many of Sisiano’s expressions, thus the artist establishes his background in dance and fashion therewith depicting Flow as the vanguard of his musings which is requisite to his overall message. Visitors at this show will find themselves immersed in an experiment that seeks to unravel different parts of self and magnify how our overall experiences create layers to each person such that, though fleeting, they leave their footprints on us.

Sisiano Paolo is a multi-faceted artist with a diverse background, ranging from musical theater, to dance, fashion, film and a storytelling in general. Paolo has an education in Arts and started creating pieces consciously in 2016, using thread on canvas around which he created a body of work. In understanding his craft and technique better, Paolo tried his hands on watercolour, ink on paper and in recent years has worked more creating with acrylic paint. Paolo enjoys the freedom that comes with being able to express himself as an artist regardless of the medium used. Paolo takes inspiration from real life situations that we mostly can relate with, whilst bringing a personal narrative to the works that he creates.

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