A-ARTs: Collapsing art, craft boundaries with woven contemporaneity

By Tajudeen Sowole

'Woven Together' (coral beads) by Kent Osaro Uwadiae.

THE more attempts to define the difference between art and craft as something confined in critical appreciation, the smaller is the barrier between the two. For each genre of artistic expression, contemporaneity is the measure through which art and craft can be collapsed to allow broader appreciation, according to works of Kent Osaro Uwadiae.

Works of Uwadiae comes into one's radar when searching for artists with alternative medium of artistic expression. For whatever reasons, artists with works deviating from the traditional medium in sculpture, painting, or mixed media are increasing. It helps in expanding the narratives of African contemporary art. Whatever category Uwadiae’s works of beads and cowries can be put, whether it is art or craft, it is a matter of individual choice in commercial and critical appreciation.

Using coral beads and a few cowries as traditional materials of jewellery, Uwadiae creates relief sculptures in figural form, turning decoration into storytelling. As far as the colour of the beads naturally suggests some limitations in particular themes, especially those which are figurative, it is important to know how Uwadiae breaks away from that barrier and places his works in the contemporary landscape.

Normally, the bead as the medium of creation is hardly creative without flocking of as many beads as possible, be it in jewellery or any other form of creative use, including figurative creations. The combined power of the beads is evident in one of the works by Uwadiae titled Woven Together, which deals with the issue of family bonding. Naturally, every bead looks the same in its natural state but differs in the contribution it gives to the collective purpose. In Woven Together, a group of four figural reliefs of two adults and children, the bonding is achieved through locking of hands from one member of the family to another.

While Uwadiae manages to create graphic representation of the theme with locking of hands of the family members, the simplicity of the figural depiction comes with suspicions. Artists and craftsmen, in most cases, need to assert their unique signatures, particularly when dealing with figurative works. Beyond simply being illustrative, works of figural or portrait forms should contain additional values.

Searching for the special signature in the work brings one to the use of the beads in the traditional way and not adventurous way. Does the seemingly simple laying of the beads indicate the analogy of the challenges faced by every one of us, highlighting the imperfections in the family?

Fundamentally, the work depicts the metaphor of “together we are stronger” in suggesting that each of the members of the family is different until they are brought together in bonding. Possibly, the differences in each member of the family could be better illustrated in figuratively using beads of different colour and light, thus emphasizing the theme. Are there as many types of beads for creative use?

Prior to becoming a material of artistic expression, the bead is extracted from natural marine product and refined for different cultural and artistic uses. In addition to the coral beads used by Uwadiae in his works, there are also glass beads, which are created from non-natural sources. By excluding the glass beads in his works, Uwadiae possibly missed the opportunity to diversify his medium of artistic expressions. Education and information are extended wings of creativity but Uwadiae failed to do so in his works.

Either in the form of art or craft, Uwadiae’s Woven Together is adding up to the collapse of the barrier between the two forms of creation, in contemporary terms.