"Through mixing colours and engaging with the canvas I’m able to process whatever I‘m feeling at the time. It‘s an outlet for me as emotions start to become clearer when they take the physical form of a painting."

Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background? Where did you study?

My name is Deborah Segun, I am an artist born,raised and currently living in Lagos, Nigeria. I studied fashion design at Polimida in Florence, Italy. My time there was very instrumental in how my career as an artist started. The collections I created in the last two years of my studies are what birthed the colourful, partially cubist style present in my works today.

Your solo show titled "Where Is My Mind?" at BEERS (26 February – 25 March 2023) seems to be focused on the pursuit of balance within oneself. Can you tell us more about your inspiration for this theme and how it plays out in your art?

My art has always been something that I felt was within my control in the sense that I decide how it is made, the story I want to tell and more importantly knowing when to say it is complete. It is quite the opposite in life when things don‘t always go how we expect. Self development, awareness and understanding have always been topics that I have consistently painted about especially in relation to my body. The journey for me personally, has not been straight forward, I‘ve had moments when things click for me and I feel like there‘s progress and I‘ve also had moments where I felt I was taking five steps back. Painting often times helps me make sense of these experiences, having a calm environment where I‘m able to center my thoughts has been instrumental in my personal and artistic development, while searching for that mental balance that brings me a level of satisfaction wishing myself.

How does your new body of work continue the theme of self-love and understanding from your previous exhibition, and what new insights or perspectives do you hope to convey through it?

The new works convey a sense of softness and grace, something I‘ve had to learn to extend to myself and my work process. The embrace of change and a shift towards something new and unknown. Unraveling and embracing new parts of myself and my works that I am yet to experience. It is exciting but also frightening at the same time. However, I am allowing myself to trust the process and hope that things will align.

You've mentioned that your art is a form of self-soothing for you. Can you discuss how creating art helps you process and cope with difficult emotions or experiences?

It‘s oftentimes very unnerving thinking about many things at once, I find that painting keeps me distracted and calm. Through mixing colours and engaging with the canvas I’m able to process whatever I‘m feeling at the time. It‘s an outlet for me as emotions start to become clearer when they take the physical form of a painting. It‘s also very calming to look at the clean lines, feel the textures of the lines as they intersect, even the unintentional marks the brush strokes leave and how these brushstrokes sometimes interact with light, almost creating a slight tonal difference. It‘s very satisfying to see and feel.

As an artist living and working in Nigeria, how do you navigate the global art market and its various networks and institutions? Are there particular challenges or opportunities that you face as a Nigerian artist, and how do you position your work within broader conversations in contemporary art?

I‘ve been lucky to work with galleries that are well versed in how the system works and trusted them with placing my works in institutions and collections that are just as invested in supporting me as an artist. Working in Nigeria for the most part hasn‘t been too challenging, as I have successfully created a routine for myself that allows me to create and thrive. I generally hope that people are able to see parts of themselves in my work, and I like to believe that I‘ve been successful in doing that so far, it has been amazing to see people going through similar experiences, being able to open up and feel safe enough to have these discussions without fear of scrutiny.

Tell us a bit about how you spend your day / studio routine? What is your studio like?

My mornings are usually quite slow, I figure out what I want to do for the day. If I‘m not feeling inspired enough to paint, I tend to do a lot of visual research which could vary from figuring out painting techniques, to looking at images that inspire me. I have breakfast at 11am and then my work starts right after. I‘m usually done for the day by 19:30/20:00. During busy periods I can work till 4am. My studio is quite cozy, it is currently a live/work space, although I would like to find somewhere bigger as I have a dream of owning a warehouse studio with big windows and bright lights loool. Not very easy to find in Lagos but not impossible.

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All images are courtesy of the artist and BEERS London
Date of publication: 20/04/23