King Ereso: Nigerian artist on the colour red and the ‘eye of hope’

By Pauline Odhiambo

As a boy, King Ereso fell while playing in school. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the colour of his blood.

Doctors feared he would not walk again let alone wake up from the coma.

But he defied their grim prognosis by walking some days later despite his injuries.

The colour of his blood would later inspire King’s art.

The bold infusion of red tones in many of his paintings now marks his signature style.

“Red represents danger for many people but I find it to be a very peaceful and hopeful colour,” 31-year old King states. “Many artists are intimidated by red but it’s always my first colour choice when I sit down to paint.”

His background in graphic design also colours his art.

“I studied art but chose graphics as my major because I was already good at painting,” the Lagos-based artist states. “Understanding the graphic aspect of art has helped my creativity in painting.”

King attributes the vibrant, collage-like quality in many of his artwork to his knowledge in graphic design.

The collage effect is additionally enhanced by the infusion of African-prints characterising his artwork.

‘The eye of hope’

Another captivating feature of his painting is that the subjects often have patch-like circles on one eye.

“I call it the eye of hope,” he states. “It symbolizes how bad experiences can be turned around for good."

But the idea to have that circle came to him after going through yet another tough period.

“It was a time when I was trying to always prove myself with my artwork but not seeing the results I wanted,” the 31-year old explains.

“I first experiment by painting a square around the eye but it didn’t really connect. I then tried drawing a line near the eye but that didn’t work either,” King recalls.

“It’s only when I drew a circle that everything finally came together and renewed my hope in my art career.”

The eye hope has also become popular among many of King’s clients, with some art collectors specifically requesting its inclusion in all his paintings.

“There was a time when I showcased art without the eye of hope at a gallery in Nigeria but I was called in to add it in when an art collector who bought the art specifically requested it,” states King who has a clothing line based on the theme.

“There’s something about it that art lovers connect to on a spiritual level as well.” King says he often stays up late working on his painting until the wee hours of morning when he feels inspired to create.

Art therapy

The creative process of his artwork is his therapy, and its completion his catharsis.

The feeling of being emotionally and psychologically unburdened while painting is the signal he looks out for to know whether an artwork is complete.

So intense is the connection between art and artist that he often feels reluctant to exhibit finished artworks or putting them up for sale.

“Once I’m done with a painting, there’s this energy that lifts from me but somehow still connects me to the painting, which is why I don’t immediately put up my art for sale,” says King whose paintings often sells for thousands of dollars.

“At the moment, I have in my warehouse up to sixty paintings done from last year to date. Some of them are about three years old and I tend to keep them there until I have fully absorbed all that I need to absorb from them before breaking that connection by selling.”

According to King, a painting will sometimes ‘release itself’ for sale when the timing is right. “

A painting can be in my warehouse for years until the person it was meant for shows up to claim it either through exhibition or just looking through my portfolio,” he says. “Some painting release themselves in that way.”

King is currently working on an exhibition in Italy where some of from the pieces from his warehouse are set to showcase in Milan.

“My hope and vision for my art is that it helps people going through difficult times to find healing and peace,” he tells TRT Afrika.

➤ Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.