African illustration should be a voice – Sef Adeola

Sef Adeola is a Nigerian editorial illustrator. His work uses silhouettes and textile design. He has been published in Lolwe (first edition), South Africa’s ‘The Continent’s (three covers), Uganda’s Minority Africa and University of Las Vegas ‘The Believer’s magazine. He has a postgraduate diploma in Creative Arts from the University of Lagos. Sef’s work focuses on narrating the experiences of African people, their beauty, protest and culture.

You are a multidisciplinary artist working with both digital tools and traditional painting. How do these mediums differ in the way they interpret and express your ideas?

There’s always that slight tug of war between traditional forms and digital forms, but in my experience, the main difference is the process. In using digital tools and creating digital painting; there’s a sort of invisible barrier between yourself and the work, whereby you are using an intermediary, mostly a digital device example, phone, tablet, laptop to create such artwork, but in traditional painting/techniques, there’s an absence of this barrier and the process from your mind to the literal surface (e.g paper) is more direct. That, to me, is the main difference in the mediums and how they can affect an artist’s ideas.

In your 2019 interview with Question Marker, you spoke about your works – Pride Garbon and Pride Fillie – where you explored themes of sexuality; and more importantly, freedom. Do you believe that history is constantly reimagining itself, whether through the residue of colonialism or cultural expectations? Are we, in some sense, always in a cycle of resistance?

Yes, I do believe; more especially as an artist, in the essence of it. We are trying to resist something. It is this resistance that irrevocably creates the power in an artwork. In that interview with The Question Marker (done by Solomon Elusoji), the resistance there was identity and sexuality – two topics that have become ever more important in recent years in Nigeria.

What is the current landscape of digital art like for Nigerian artists?

The current landscape for digital art is expansive and ubiquitous at the moment. From traditional art circles, we have Joseph Obanubi, comics to film posters and editorial/narrative illustration – which is what I do to advertising, book covers (Renike Olusanya comes to mind here) to album covers like what Lemi Ghariokwu did for Fela, etc. It is a vast and expansive landscape in Nigeria; and all the digital artist has to do is to pick a sector and narrow their focus there.

NFTs were quite confusing at first and probably still are for many. Could you give a brief explanation of what NFTs are and the opportunities they present for digital artists, particularly within the Nigerian context?

Non-fungible tokens (NFT) are basically unique digital assets stored on a blockchain. NFTs are non-fungible (meaning not interchangeable); hence this makes the technology suitable for domains, such as art, collectibles and other unique items. I was extremely interested and curious about it at the height of the cryptocurrency mania in 2020 but then, decided that the technology (blockchain and cryptocurrency) had more value in decentralised finance.

There are opportunities for artists who are interested in that space, from creating their own NFTs to exhibiting in NFT galleries etc. It is not really my forte, so I don’t want to dwell much on this space; but I know there are lots of opportunities there.

As someone who constantly interacts with technology, how do you take time to relax, reconnect with your environment and step away from the screen?

That’s a great question. I relax with music and watching films (which still has to deal with the screen). There are some activities I enjoy doing, such as reading or taking walks, but to be honest, in recent times, I have become a victim of anxiety and lost my cucumber calm of yester years.

In one of your essays you argued that African illustrations have an important role in journalism. Would you say this has become more evident in the last five years, especially with the rise of infographics and high-quality editorial cartoons?

Yes, especially with the rise of infographics and editorial cartoons. You also forget that there’s now data visualisation and the likes, which are putting more emphasis on digital image making and journalism. At the core, African Illustrations at this nascent stage should be a roar, a weapon, a voice for the voiceless, a cry for development and a shield against injustice. Of course, the onus is not on the illustrator to foster development; and in fact, as an artist you can choose any subject matter, from politics to the mundane, but for Africa, at the current stage we are in, African illustration, in my opinion, should be a voice.

Do you believe digital artists could do more to support journalism, social projects and honest political campaigns? If so; how?

Yes, I do. Because of journalism’s far-reaching audience and impact when it comes to perception, visual artists have an important role to play in this regard – creating even greater emphasis on social projects and political campaigns. However, one must be careful about the stance one takes. Although as illustrators, we are commissioned to create works for a story, the angle/point of view should not be overtly biased (at least one must try). But in practice, this can be difficult to achieve.

The way I do it is to first and foremost only accept commissions for stories I believe and have a clear conviction in. That’s one way to go about it. If I don’t believe in a story or work, I won’t accept the commission.

What do you enjoy most about the process of designing book covers? Is there a particular moment from concept to final print that excites you the most?

Book cover design is not something I have done often. This year will be the first I will be doing a book cover – one for a professor in Georgia State University and some for a local and renowned literary publisher. But I have done a few magazine covers, like my work for University of Las Vegas’ The Believer Magazine.

I do enjoy the whole process, from client requirements to preliminary sketches, concept notes, colour choices to the final illustration – the whole gamut. It is quite satisfying. The main pain will be the continuous back and forth. Book cover design is one of those mediums where the artist has to literally chase the writer/publisher’s perfection.

With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, do you still find publishing a promising space for digital art? How do you think digital artists can stay relevant in this evolving time?

At the beginning of the AI boom, I was a skeptic as to the relevance of traditional publishing, writing and even art in general, but over the years, with each new AI foundational model, I began to realise that my fear was far-fetched.

It has now become obvious to spot AI writing and AI art. Even teenagers can tell; almost everyone can tell (using my social media bubble as a sample size); hence it has gotten its own voice, which doesn’t make it a threat to anyone.

But one can’t help but think that in the short-term it will reduce income for a lot of creatives, especially the ones who are just starting. At present, I believe using AI as a tool – which is what it is – can help digital artists stay relevant – but the most important step to take in this era is to be fiercely authentic as no one can copy your unique life experiences, knowledge, background, interests and skills.

In what ways are you confident that art is contributing to youth development in Nigeria today?

In several ways; one of such way is wealth creation. Art has shown its ability to create wealth for the youth in Nigeria – from visual arts to music and the performing arts. I don’t need to mention names as there are countless examples in these different sectors.

Another way is that art has been able to solve idleness. As you know, the popular saying is that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Art has been able to plug this hole in Nigeria by giving Nigerian youths something to occupy their time.

What advice would you give to younger artists just entering the field?

Stay true to your craft, choose a particular sector and medium, narrow on this and keep improving your craft everyday. It is a global world now, so you are competing with other artists from different countries. I remember a time when I was competing with another illustrator for a commission from a Dutch magazine. That illustrator had already created a cover for The New Yorker and I lost the commission. That’s to give you a perspective that you as a Nigerian artist are competing with artists from other countries.

Lastly, let time be your friend. You know the usual saying about tenacity: If you let her stay long enough she will give you all you want.

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