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painting,  mosaic  and  printmaking

NIGERIAN-CANADIAN  VISUAL  ARTIST

ARTIST STATEMENT:

In my work, I reveal the colours and forms that lie beneath the covering layers of paint. As a painter I do not just paint; I create using paint. The freedom I experience through my freehand drawing and my colour mixture is where the fun begins. My art technique emphasizes the character of my visual narratives, my journey, my experience and my imagination in a personal and unique way. With my technique, I demand the viewer’s participation in the artistic process and discourse relating to each work.

Yisa Akinbolaji is a full-time visual artist based in Winnipeg. Since his first art exhibition at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos in 1985, Yisa’s work has gone on to be exhibited internationally. In 1993, while still in Lagos, Nigeria, Yisa developed his innovative ‘layering and revealing’ technique of painting. Before coming to Canada in 1997, Yisa was recognized as a leading Nigerian artist with his work and biography included in “Nigerian Artists: A Who’s Who and Bibliography” (1993) by Bernice Kelly and Janet L. Stanley of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Most recently, Yisa’s work has been published in the Best Of Worldwide Abstract & Still Life Artists, Vol. 1. Yisa received his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from the University of North Dakota, U.S.A. and (H.N.D) in Painting from the Yaba College of Technology, Nigeria. He is currently a member of the Manitoba Arts Council.

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