“I learnt to paint way before I learnt to write” says, Peju Alatise, a visual artist, activist, sculptor, painter, architect and a story...
“I learnt to paint way before I learnt to write” says, Peju Alatise, a visual artist, activist, sculptor, painter, architect and a storyteller. She has the talent and the vision to create art out of anything. In her university days after enrolling in for architecture, she stumbled upon David Dale’s work in a gallery. That was the turning point of her life. Peju knew that very moment what she wanted out of her life. She shaped her career to make her passion, her profession. She works with any medium that is useful in executing any particular idea or project. She creates whole new worlds from nothing. Her very popular exhibition was the “Wrapture: The story of cloth.” It illustrated a fantastic realm where humans can step away from themselves and examine what they leave behind. The cloths and the fabrics were given the form of literal and metaphorical representation of humans. She delves into this theme because ““In Yorubaland a piece of cloth is worn as a wrapper that covers a womanʼs body,” she said. “Generations ago, patterns and colors printed on a cloth identifies a culture and an ethnic group. Here, I use the cloth as a symbol of intimacy, privacy, spirituality, beauty, death, folklore and violation.” She was never apprehensive about her capabilities or hurdles, being a female artist in Nigeria, she was just focused on her art. But, she realised it was not as simple as she thought. Her gender as an artist was definitely a concern for the society and the industry. She was exposed to the world full of prejudices. We need to overcome them. Peju’s art is not driven by commercial materialistic matrix of demand and supply. . She denies painting faces or portraits or sceneries because they will sell or please others. She paints for herself; she creates what she likes and what appeals to her. Her work is result of this out of the box thinking, often not accepted very overwhelmingly by the world otherwise. She says, “people in Nigeria do not want to confront the status quo. They don’t want to be part of the discussion.” Her installations challenge the social, religious and cultural norms. She touches upon various issues of social atrocities against women like child brides or oppression of women. She appeals to all women artists to “Transcend Gender” and look beyond physical, social and cultural boundaries of creativity. Nothing should be about gender, we all have something special that we can give to the world. Peju trains both women and men in sewing and beadwork as she believes that mastering a craft builds self-esteem and can give financial independence. Impacting mostly the younger generation of artists, Peju is often invited to speak with students and is always accessible to them and offers training. As her artist statement on her website reads, “I am but an alien addicted to the taste of freedom.” She certainly does stand out in the crowd, a distinct individuality that dares to question the social constructs. Less
