Colours, culture, and creativity: Okiemute Shishe’s artistic journey

Two significant life events inspired Okiemute Shishe’s journey as an artist: the passing of her father in 2020 and attending Art X Lagos, one of the largest art exhibitions in Africa in 2021. “Both experiences played a meaningful role in awakening the artist within me,” she told Guardian Life.

“When my father passed, I found myself overwhelmed with grief and guilt. My mother, an artist herself, encouraged me to explore painting as a way to come to terms with the emotions I was struggling to express and manage,” she said.

When Shishe began her artistic journey, she discovered a new form of healing and self-expression.

Love Under the Coconut Tree

Overwhelmed with grief and guilt, Shishe found comfort in painting. This new path of healing resulted in her first heartfelt painting.

“The painting in honour of my father was inspired by my treasured memory of visiting him at his home in Abgarho in 2018, where we sat peacefully under his favourite coconut tree,” she said. “The moment was filled with sunshine, laughter, and meaningful conversation. I named the painting Love Under the Coconut Tree, and it became the genesis of my artistic journey.”

Born in Warri, Nigeria, in 1976 to a Nigerian Urhobo father and a German artist mother—both of whom remain her “greatest inspirations”—Shishe’s upbringing spanned three continents, exposing her to a variety of cultures.

“I grew up immersed in traditions that emphasised family, community support, and pride in one’s heritage,” she recalled. Living in southern Nigeria built a deep sense of self-love and identity, while her years in Germany enhanced her understanding of being unique and structured. Her adulthood in the United States widened her perspective, encouraging adaptation.

These multicultural experiences shaped Shishe’s worldview and thematic directions.

Her experience allowed her to see “self-love as an evolving process of discovery and creation, and family as both a source of strength and connection and community as a space for nurturing both individual and collective growth,” she said. These recurring themes are boldly expressed in her recent series, Blooming Beauties and Family, where she explores the intricate connections between self-love, family, and community.

This journey, she said, is what led her to attend Art X Lagos in 2021. “It turned out to be an eye-opening experience that caused a mind shift in my perspective on the significance of art.”

The energy of the exhibition, with its range of artwork and diverse narratives, was an opportunity for Shishe to experience how art can communicate powerful, personal, and cultural stories. “Being surrounded by such creativity and expression filled me with a renewed sense of purpose, that I left the exhibition feeling inspired and clear about my mission as an artist: to explore and understand the intricate connections between self-love, family, and community, and to create art and experiences that invite others to reflect on and celebrate those themes.”

Okiemute Shishe: In her own words

Okiemute Shishe’s art is distinguished by its distinctive, vibrant colours and the use of glitter, elements that symbolise life’s unpredictability and beauty. In this interview with Guardian Life, the artist speaks about her artistic journey and how she’s been able to turn a distressing situation around to bring beauty to the world.

Your art features vibrant colours and glitter. What do these elements represent for you?
When I began my artistic journey, I was sure of my love for vibrant colours. I recognised that bold colours would be the perfect medium to express my interpretation of life’s beauty and depth. Colours have a unique way of capturing both the complexities and simplicities of life, and I wanted my work to reflect that balance. To add an element of excitement, I introduced glitter. Because like life, glitter is unpredictable—it shines depending on how the light hits, much like how new insights and perspectives shape our growth and how we ultimately shine in life.

So, by combining vibrant colours with the shiny unpredictability of glitter, I aim to bring my work to life in a way that resonates with people, and that I hope sparks a sense of vitality that inspires them to reflect on their journeys and the connections they share with others.

How has your journey back to Nigeria shaped your artistic identity?
Returning to Nigeria in 2022 after three decades of exploring the world was important to refining my identity. It allowed me to reconnect with my roots on a personal and spiritual level and reignited my appreciation for the vibrant cultural traditions of my formative years. Experiencing the culture from a fresh perspective, I gained a fresh admiration for its colours, textures, and traditional artistry, along with the resilience and optimism that embody the country’s creative spirit of constantly celebrating life’s dualities—challenges and triumphs.

This new perspective is what made me evaluate the artist name that I initially started with, Jackie O. Love. So, in reconnecting with my cultural heritage, my greatest revelation was reclaiming my ethnic birth name, Okiemute Shishe. My artistic journey will remain an ongoing process that will continue to refine my identity and works. And I know it will always be in ways that will honour my African heritage and the global influences I’ve gathered throughout the years.

What message do you hope viewers take away from your art?
Art, for me, is a powerful form of communication, whether it speaks directly to the viewer or resonates on a deeper, spiritual level. What was important for me to communicate with my work was my visual interpretation of self-love, family, and community, while conveying a core truth about life: everything has its time. Life will always have highs and lows that we will experience at different stages of life—from childhood to old age—and each phase unfolds in its own time.

It is important to always remember to be patient through these necessary changes that ultimately shape our individual and collective journeys. So, my message is: “Be patient, everything has its time.”

Can you tell us about the significance of your name, “Okiemute,” and how it reflects your artistic journey?
I was given the name Jacqueline Okiemute Shishe at birth by my father, and the name Okiemute is significant to me, especially when reflecting on his explanation of its meaning. In our Urhobo culture, he would say, Okiemute means ‘God’s time’ or ‘It is God’s time,’ so always be patient and remember that everything has its time. This is what grounded me in my belief that there is divine timing for EVERYTHING.

It has served as a constant reminder to honour the natural flow of life, a flow that is essential for true creativity and growth. This grounding philosophy has helped me practice patience and trust during times of trial, triumph, uncertainty, and waiting. Artistically, it has helped me in moments when I’m seeking inspiration, experimenting with new ideas and techniques, or evolving the themes in my art. My name, Okiemute, will always be a reminder for me to honour life’s natural pace in every aspect of my life’s journey.

How does your mother’s influence, being an artist herself, manifest in your work?
My mother has been an artist her entire life, but it wasn’t until I started painting that I truly began to appreciate her influence on my creative journey. Now at 82, she continues to create incredible work with passion, and it’s inspiring to see how joyful and passionate she remains about her work.

After my brother’s passing in 1999, I witnessed her use art as a form of therapy to transform loss into creativity. She transitioned from creating only black-and-white pieces years after my brother’s passing to adding colours as she fully embraced grandmotherhood with the birth of her last grandchild in 2003.

Her attention to detail, dedication, and bold use of colours is what gave me the confidence to experiment with vibrant colours and glitter, allowing me to express my personality. She taught me the importance of letting creativity flow naturally and to fearlessly create a philosophy that matched my father’s teaching of patience and timing which I carried into every piece I have created so far. Her influence will always be woven into my artworks in ways that will honour our past and present, as it shapes something meaningful for our future.

What role do you believe art plays in fostering self-love and community bonds?
Art has been such a wonderful way for me to explore and express myself. I used it to share my story and connect with a supportive community at my first US exhibition. So, I believe art’s key role is to spark conversations that encourage individuality, strengthen bonds, and encourage collective growth.

What was the experience of holding your first solo exhibition in the US like, and how has it impacted your work since returning to Nigeria?
It was an exciting and life-changing experience. It was also a humbling experience that gave me the courage and confidence to identify as an artist. Seeing how my art resonated with people from different cultural backgrounds and the diverse feedback I received encouraged me to think more about how I could grow globally as an artist.

My return to Nigeria has increased my commitment to merging my heritage with global influences, inspiring me to experiment with techniques and materials that honour my roots while staying true to my core themes of self-love, family, and community.

What future projects or themes are you excited to explore next?
An upcoming project that I am super excited about is Nigeria’s National Festival of Arts and Culture event. After a visit to my studio in Lekki, Mr Obi Asika, the Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), invited me to participate. This opportunity means the world to me, not only for the exposure but for the chance to bring to life several of the ideas that have been explored in my mind.

They are ideas that will contribute to making Nigeria a more visually vibrant place that reflects its rich cultural heritage and creative spirit. There are many exciting things on the horizon as this is just the beginning of my journey as an artist, so stay tuned for what’s to come.