Elisha: Nigerian star artist who 'used to be scared of portraiture'

By Pauline Odhiambo

Nigerian artist Elisha Nyong was in primary school when he first saw an oil painting. While out on a stroll one day, he encountered one of his teachers painting in the outdoors and was immediately mesmerised.

“It was a portrait of a man depicted in a photograph, and the resemblance was uncanny,” Elisha recounts to TRT Afrika.

Up until that point, young Elisha had hated his lesson in art, but watching his teacher create different oil paintings in 2007 piqued his interest and eventually galvanised his resolve to be an artist.

But Elisha says his performance in arts had been ‘average’ at best in the preceding years.

“Some of my classmates could draw better than me, and that made me an average student, which, to date, doesn’t sit well with me because I hate being average at anything,” says the contemporary realist.

Contemporary realism is a worldwide style of painting which came into existence in the1960s and early 70s. According to the platform Art Focus, contemporary realism encompasses figurative art works created in a natural yet highly objective style.

Winning art

Elisha’s first attempt at oil painting at 14-years old in 2010 earned him the top spot in a national art competition.

“The competition was titled ‘Art for Guns,’ and I did painting titled ‘Niger Delta crises’ to reflect the subtheme, and sought to discuss the prevalence of crime and illicit activities in the region,” he recalls.

More of his paintings have since been showcased in Nigeria and many other countries across the world including the UK, Italy, US and Ukraine.

Elisha’s journey in the arts led him to the University of Uyo in Nigeria’s Akwa Ibom state, where he studied fine and industrial art.

It was at university that he met one of his mentors Akan David, a renowned surrealist who altered Elisha’s perspective on art.

Akan’s unique technique of incorporating surrealism as figurative painting, as well as imbuing symbolism and a touch of Pan-Africanism and mysticism, was illuminating for a budding artist.

“He helped me understand the interaction between philosophy and art, and how the mind can be the only limitation in accessing the creative-verse,” says Elisha of his mentor.

Natural portraitist

Elisha’s own style was praised by yet another senior colleague at his university.

Naturally a portraitist, Elisha has worked with various media including water colour, pastel and charcoals but his primary medium is oil paint.

“I used to be really scared of portraiture,” he states. “But with the encouragement of my colleagues, I kept practising and eventually embraced my natural inclination to portraiture.”

Among other works, his series titled ‘Only a Memory’ is scheduled to showcase in Harlem, New York City during the month of September 2024 as part of the ‘Black Heroine II’ exhibitions.

Art activism

"'Only a Memory’" is inspired by the current situation in Gaza, where Israel continues to carry out brutal attacks against Palestinians. The exhibition was initially titled ‘Let the Children Play’ in honour of the great memories the children in Gaza had before the war,” Elisha explains.

Since October 2023, Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians — mostly women and children — and wounded over 93,000 others – a conservative estimate, with 10,000 more believed to be buried under debris of bombed homes.

“The girl in one of the portraits in this series is dressed in a fine silk cloak which symbolises the rich cultural background of the people in Gaza,” Elisha tells TRT Afrika.

“Despite the fact that I depicted her in melanin skin, the underlying message here is the memory of a beautiful life.”

Part of the proceeds from that exhibit is intended for Palestinian children.

Visual allegories

Elisha also uses his artistic platform to address mental health.

“My visual allegories are designed to discuss controversial topics like religion, death and other key elements of the human condition, which is why I based the entire Black Heroine collection on mental health” he states.

“Some artists make paintings and then they just throw a title at it or cook up philosophies for it, which feels fraudulent to me,” adds Elisha.

“As a creative, I do not stand for that because I don’t want to be just another commercial African artist replicating a style simply because it's popular.”

But being fluent in expressing allegories was not an immediate realisation for Elisha.

“People say that everything comes naturally once you graduate from college, but that didn’t happen for me,” says the artist who earned his bachelor’s degree in 2017.

“I was painting landscapes and whatever else I felt like painting because I didn’t really have an identity.”

‘Echoes of a Dream’

The lightbulb moment in realising his artistic style eventually came to him in 2022.

“I went back to a paper I had published in university as an undergraduate. The paper is titled ‘Surrealism and the Psyche: Unlocking the Creative-self; addressing the psychological blocks faced by artist and creative in general,” he tells TRT Afrika.

“Retrospectively, I thought deeply about everything I had in that paper, and then one day I suddenly found the courage to create series I titled ‘Echoes of a Dream,’" says the artist who briefly dabbled in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) before finding his signature style.

“The first piece in that collection was bought even before I had finished it. That was two years ago, and since then, everything has just naturally fallen into place in terms of my artistic identity.”

Elisha’s art now sells for thousands of dollars in the international market.

He is currently represented by the Constance and Sons Gallery in Nigeria and the High Art Gallery in Seattle, US, and Omíníra Art &Tea in Harlem, NYC.

His advice to aspiring artists: “The key to being successful is consistency. The greatest brands in the world don’t sell products, they sell consistency, and in artistry, self-consistency is crucial in staying relevant.”

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