Today we’d like to introduce you to Abiola Wabara.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born in Parma Italy by Nigerian parents. After graduating High School, I moved to Waco to attend Baylor University on a basketball scholarship. Upon graduating I started my career as a professional basketball player across Europe, while also starting my art journey.
I played in Israel, Spain, Hungary, Italy and the United Kingdom where after 10 years I finally ended by basketball career after going back to school to obtain a masters in International business management. While traveling to play basketball, I was able to start showing my art work in different countries and gain more confidence in my creations, which lead me to finally focus more on it and build my online gallery. I now live full time in Houston -Heights- and continue to create and share my work with anyone interested to see it.
Please tell us about your art.
I guess my art work could be defined as figurative. I create work that focuses on Afrocentric subjects and mainly women. My medium of choice is mostly oil with an addition of 3D elements to bring the pieces to life. I like to play with mix media and experiment with other medium as well such as acrylics, pastel and gesso. Art has been my way to identify and express myself and my cultural ambiguity. As a “third culture Kid” finding a place where I completely belong has always been somewhat of an internal struggle. My art represents what I see as beautiful in being black, and my subjects are vessels in which eyes I see a different story.
I hope my work will convey these different emotions. I believe as a person I am full of simple complexity and that’s how I feel about my work; as simple as the subjects are, I see different levels in each and every one of them. When I create a piece, I create a new story, a new exit route away from a reality where stereotypes, often box us in a world we might not completely belong to. I hope that the viewers of my work see the emotions that are hidden behind each pice find their personal connection with and enjoy each piece just as much as I enjoy creating it.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
In my opinion the biggest challenge is breaking the “starving artists” stereotype while also getting the right exposure. I think it is difficult to think of our craft in business terms and that might be part of the problem. When we as artists only think of our creations with our hearts and emotions, we take away our credibility from the non-artist world.
Being able to make a living as an artist is beyond just making money, I find that often times people think of art simply as a hobby and not a skill set or occupation that should be held to the same regards as any other creative craft. No one ever questions if being a ballet dancer is a career or not, or an opera singer so why is it that visual arts aren’t held in the same regards? I really believe that if more artists started to put forth a more “business” like bravado, the overall perception will slowly start to shift. Charge the sales tax, have written commission agreements and send that invoice with a non-negotiable due date.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My work can be found on my website: www.artbyabiola.com and on my Instagram account: @artbyabiola. From September 26th to October 13th one of my pieces that was selected to be part of the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series will be on exhibition at the Houston Museum of African American Culture. You can also find my artwork (for a little while longer) gracing the walls of The Breakfast Klub. The best way to support my work is to share it with anyone you think might like it, and to join my monthly newsletter to find out about upcoming art events.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.artbyabiola.com
- Email: info@artbyabiola
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/artbyabiola
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artbyabiola
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/artbyabiola
- Other: https://behindthearts.me/
Image Credit:
Abiola
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