Kelly Omoefe Ovwigho is self assured. He has a strong belief in the value of his art and this is what sets him apart, along with his art degree in view, from the prestigious Yaba College of Technology.
I ask him to tell me about himself, where he is from and his artistic influences. Kelly answers,
‘My name is Ovwhigho Kelly Omoefe. I am from Delta State. I grew up in Lagos. The artists I look upon are Edosa Ogiugo, Valence Ejo, and Duke.’
On how he developed his art skills, he explains, ‘I developed my art skills through practice and through my colleagues, through my friends. When we work together, we draw like we would never draw again. Also through other works I see.’
On his favourite artistic medium, Kelly muses, ‘I love to use oil and charcoal. Mostly I love to paint with oil. Oil is my favourite.’
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On his source of inspiration, Omoefe elucidates, I find inspiration through what I see my environment.’
Self assured, Kelly Omoefe picks his favourite time to paint as ‘The day time. Where it is calm.’
Kelly expatiates on the benefit of art to society as follows, ‘The society can never do without art because art actually improves the society. The society can never move forward. Art itself is the society. That is the way I see it. What actually motivates me to create are the people around me. What I see pushes me to create what is in me.’
Kelly waxes nostalgic over how much he loves art, ‘I love art so much that art itself brings out the me in me. It brings out who I am. It makes me understand myself. It raised up my life so much, because without art, I don’t think I would actually discover myself so early like this. Art actually has done a lot in my life. It makes me see things differently from what other humans see.’
Kelly defines artistic success thus, ‘Art itself is success. But as an artist what I see is that you have to be different from other artists, if you want to be successful. You have to paint the way you are. You don’t have to copy other artists to paint the way they are. You have to bring out a unique concept that forces people to accept you. They might at first reject it but as long as you do it consistently, I believe that is success. Don’t feel like there is no money now. With time, you do it constantly and people will want to flock towards you.’
