Visual Poems

The boy with a thorn in his side is a re-appropriation of the parable of the good samaritan. The artist uses the piece as a vehicle to explore questions she has about the current state of our world and the roles we play within it.

'Between Somewhere and Nowhere is the Sky- a gift' is a piece that was inspired by my Christmas trip to my home, Nigeria, in 2022.
The poem is a reflection on time spent with family (both nuclear and extended) but also a documentation of my way finding in life outside of home.
At the core of the visual poem is a trip we took to a beach in Lagos while we were together and my interaction with my family as well as our collective interaction with the water. As we immerse our feet in it and take photos and videos while we stay around each other, I'm reminded that this is a tradition both my parents did ever so often with their own families while they were growing up and here we are doing the same again but this time, I am documenting it with intention.

The water flows back and forth crashing into our feet and stands as not only a core of this generational memory but as a metaphor for my relationship with my home country. A relationship that has developed into a 'once a year' thing as opposed to years ago when it was not like that. Growing up I saw family and friends all the time and that is something that shaped me into the person that I am now. It contributed to my holistic growth. And now, it is something I find that is missing from my development as an adult with less frequency and contact as the years go by.
The poem explores the subject of belonging to a place or a people and navigating 'belonging' in a new country that is not my home. Somehow, I am yet to find that in the current place I am in.

'Somewhere': a place where I feel belonging // 'Nowhere': a place where I do not.
And belonging is not felt because at the core of belonging, for me is being connected physically to my family- the people I am from but have now left behind as I live as an immigrant in a place I feel I can never call home. The water reminds me in its coming and going of myself and my current experience of wayfinding in my life.

"...then there is the Sky", which I call a gift. In the midst of the coming and going over waters and through nations, what stays constant is the Sky. It offers a kind of security and peace that I do not feel when I am 'Nowhere' and is a safe haven for me as I journey to it.
'Between Somewhere and Nowhere is the Sky- a gift' is a celebration of family and the bonds that I have formed with them. It is a call to remember where I am from and a reminder that I am loved fully. As the water flows back and forth, so do our memories, bringing calmness and peace. We rely on them to flow to us and meet us again and again, to remind us that we belong 'Somewhere' and one day, we will meet there again.

Podcast: ‘…into words with Sola’