Warwickshire based artist Ije will be involved in melissandre varin’s summer residency at Arcadia Gallery, so she’s shared with us a bit about herself and her creative practice…
Ije (eejay): A Scottish/Nigerian artist-healer. My practice draws on a lifetime of exploring landscapes, from wild spaces of mountains and coastlines, to mining and farming communities to industrial towns and cities.
I am a mixed practice artist: I am a writer, a poet, an explorer, a painter, a photographer, a creator, a healer; I am a sculptor, an adventurer, a walker and a runner, a performer, a thinker, a catalyst. I look up towards, I look down onto, I look through and on the face of things; I encounter, touch, feel, remember, imagine, and fabricate.
My artworks have an energy, a sense of movement, time and rhythm; they are vibrant, and layered, and multiple. Textured paintings with inclusions of manufactured materials are often described as bold and energetic, reflecting the feelings and sensuousness of my encounters. My photographs/videos initially act as immediate note taking, capturing glimpses of the times and spaces that I occupy in the world, leading on to incorporation with poetry, sculpture or installation.
I make most of my work from my garden studio in Rugby which is now open to the public during Warwickshire Open Studios Arts Weeks. Visit “In The Mix”, 11-6, Fri to Sun 25 to 27 June and Fri to Sun 2 to 4 July.
I’m very excited to that my next exhibition is MULTIPLICITY OF US at Arcadia Gallery, Coventry from late July. I will be intermingling with 6 more ethnically diverse artists, co-curating and creating something wonderful.