We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caroline Useh a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Caroline , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
What I will forever and always be grateful for is waking up every day to see that I’m surrounded and loved by people I didn’t expect could go an extent for my sake. The kindest thing someone has done for me is that they helped me to realize the strength I possess which I literally didn’t know I have in me. Beating my imagination.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
As a visual Artist, I’m thrilled by colors and objects that have shades, these, has been inspiring to my creative prowess. Initially I barely have the courage to create works as I’ve always felt I’m not up to the task, I don’t meet standard, what value my works could be and they are not so outstanding after all, these were the thoughts round my head in my early days which made me give in to fear. As fate will have it, friends came to my aid and helped unlock the inner strength that I possess and with this, I became even more inspired and ignited the spark.
My works are a fusion of materials of different kinds, a continuous search for substitution of pigment and a means to creating environment awareness to suppress negligence towards a hygienic culture.
The subjects of my works are with relatable feelings as they always stir up conversation between my audiences. I create works that aim to reassure confidence, a reminder of being blessed with the circle of winning oriented minds, standing up to face my fear, applauding consistency, the hope it promotes and the fulfillment that comes from every successful piece executed, a constant reminder that all men are born with inner strength that needs to be unleashed to help save a situation.
My choice of medium always gives me a distinction from the crowd and I don’t struggle for recognition if need be. The mastery of objects manipulation and the idea that triggers each piece.
I am most proud of the resilience I put to work and also being an inspiration to younger artists I mentor.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
A major driving force is happy seeing people believe in me and appreciating my works. The goal is to build a standard beyond my imagination because I’ve been able to conquer my fears and anxiety, so, all I keep feeling is win win win.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I was to start my practice formally , I wasn’t sure nor certain of what the outcome will be, I can say it was a state of dilemma but the comfort and encouragement I had was my friends strongly rooting for me, it was a constant mentoring and motivation guide period from them all through. Although, I didn’t know my strength, but seems like they were seeing what I wasn’t. So i had to continue on the vision they had on me, and In no time, it was became clearer to me and I began to see my competency and resilience despite how trying the time was for me. Today it’s a success story already.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Caroline _useh
- Facebook: Caroslyn useh
- Linkedin: Binah useh
Image Credits
Simon Ojeaga, Francis Jeremiah, Eugene Konboye, Midegbeyan Stephen, Oguvre Solomon, Mathew Oyedele, Bob Nosa Uwagboe, Yusuf Durodola, Faith Michael, W.D Ejoh, Josiah Chinese.