Segun Alonge’s eternal bond explores nexus between humans, nature

Examining the interconnectedness between humans and plants in art form and sounding a call to action, Segun Alonge will be holding a solo exhibition, Eternal Bond from December 1 to 14 at Fobally Art World Africa in Lekki, Lagos.

Curated by Nazerin Gbinije, Alonge divulged that there would be 40 works on exhibition. “It is divided into three series; Eternal Bond, Elysium, and Emergence; all with different styles. Eternal Bond has 15 paintings while the other two have 25 between them,” he said.

A multifaceted artist, Alonge’s works are a mixture of oil on canvas, mixed media, acrylic on canvas, and real-life paintings. “Eternal Bond focuses heavily on nature and observers would notice a lot of plant and nature paintings. It speaks of the eternal relationship between plants and humans; we cannot do without each other. Plants supply us with the oxygen we breathe in but more importantly, plants can exist without us but we need plants to survive. Man’s existence is currently endangering plant life, this must change. I also want to drive awareness of nature and why we must take care of her. When you cut a tree down, you must replace it because taking care of nature indirectly means taking care of humans too. I also want to use my art to discourage deforestation,” he said.

Believing that artists should be able to explore different art styles rather than limiting themselves to just one style, he revealed that impressionism is his current passion. Drawing inspiration from the works of German artist, Kathe Kollwitz, Alonge said she inspired his early paintings.

Speaking on Glimpse, from the Eternal Bond series, he said he painted leaves to form a human face to drive home the point that plants and nature heavily support the existence of humans.

Revealing that it took two years to bring the exhibition to life, he said he wanted to perfect the detailing as much as possible. “I enjoy working on large canvasses and I wanted the leaves to look as realistic as possible. I painted each of those leaves, thousands of them, one by one, to form the human faces. People often ask if they’re paintings or pictures, that is how realistic I made them look,” he said.

The graduate of Fine Art from Obafemi Awolowo University and a master’s degree holder in Arts from Birmingham City University in the U.K, Alonge said his passion for art stemmed from watching his older brother draw caricatures when he was young. “My first exhibition was Footprints in Ile-Ife. Since then, I have participated in countless exhibitions here in Nigeria and in the U.K.”

Creative Director of the gallery, Folasade Abiola, said beyond art, their hope is that the artworks educate and inspire especially as the exhibition will also have different activities aside from admiring the artworks. She said the 14 days would also feature panel talk/artists talk, sip and paint, live painting, and guided tours; all on different days throughout the exhibition. “The first-panel session would talk about art as a catalyst for environmental awareness while the second would talk about the role of nature in art and personal expression,” she said.

Chairman of the gallery, Larry Segun-Lean, said the exhibition also hopes to reveal the danger of biodegradation and how humans keep depleting the ozone, which has resulted in global warming. “We are careless with nature and Eternal Bond will hopefully remind us that we must be kinder to nature. Humans are literally a danger to her and it is our hope that this is a panacea to our climate questions. I want to encourage everyone to attend this thought-provoking exhibition and stimulate a better consciousness of our environment. This is a reminder and call to action for all of us,” he said.