MITOCHONDRIA GALLERY

This exhibition is a continuation of Samuels discourse on the “politics of fabrics.” Samuel’s fabric sculptures are an interrogation on the global impact of migration and consumerism. Samuel is the 2022 recipient of the Art for Change Global Prize by Saatchi, London.

The genesis for this body of work began in January 2023, during Samuel’s residency at the GAS foundation, Lagos. He was inspired to capture the interaction between Used clothing imported to Nigeria by non-profit and for profit organizations, and its socioeconomic effect on the recipient communities.

Samuel attempts to draw his viewers into the life of the local Courtier whose livelihood is destabilized by the influx of lower priced Used clothing, and the local consumer who deems Used clothing as social prestige based on brand aspiration. Furthermore, Samuel wants to interrogate the environmental impact of Used Clothes in their new community as some of these clothes are at the end of usability, and closer to becoming waste.

For Samuel the use of fabric as a medium for sculpture is personal. He was raised in a home of a professional Couturier and Cobler, where he observed and assisted his parents in the process of custom dress and shoe making.

These elements were translated into Samuel’s artistic education at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he attained a Bachelors and Masters in Sculpture. The Nsukka sculpture program is renowned for the use of conglomerating smaller objects into a more complex structure, as seen in the works of Alumni’s such as Ozioma Onuzulike.

Samuel applies this philosophy in the developing this body of work. He scoured the markets in Lagos and Nsukka to compile a plethora of Used clothing from T-shirts, Pants, Dresses, and other forms of garments. He consolidates the individual pieces of clothing using threads and stretcher bars to create a linear form that mimics the structure of a painting. Samuel implements deconstructed pieces of clothing to create overlapping diagonal patterns across the breadth of the sculpture, which is symbolic for the migratory path of the Used clothing and the restraint it places on the local community.