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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: NIGERIAN ARTIST / DENVER
HEADLINE: Nigerian Artist Isaac Ekele Joins Denver Portraiture Exhibit
TEASER: Hyperrealistic drawings resemble photographs
PUBLISHED AT: 8/4/22, 6:48p
BYLINE: Scott Stearns
DATELINE: Denver
VIDEOGRAPHER: Awwal Salihu, Scott Stearns
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: MCY, DLJ
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA original
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:59
VID APPROVED BY:
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO ))
[[ Nigerian artist Isaac Ekele is part of an exhibition of portraiture in the Western U.S. state of Colorado. VOA’s Scott Stearns reports on his hyperrealistic drawings.]]
((NARRATOR))
Isaac Ekele prides himself on the details. Using charcoal pencils, graphite pencils and soft blending brushes, he layers his portraits from lighter to darker.
((Isaac Ekele, Artist))
“When I am done having the perfect shade of the picture, then I start adding details like the hair to be very realistic, the eyes, so that when someone sees it, he will think it is a picture, not a drawing. That is what I want to achieve.”
((NARRATOR))
Ekele’s work is part of a Portrait of a Culture exhibit in the Western U.S. city of Denver that includes fashion and dance. Curator Shanna Shelby says Ekele’s skill elevates pencil drawing.
((Shanna Shelby, Exhibit Curator))
“Maybe a single portrait of a single person would be very simple, but the way that he does it is just with incredible technique.”
((NARRATOR))
At home in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, Ekele splits his time between personal projects and commissioned portraits. Of his work on exhibit in the United States, he told VOA he is most proud of “My Mom’s Prayer.”
((Isaac Ekele, Artist))
“The prayers my mom gives me and all of her encouragement ever since I lost my dad and her sincere wishes for me to become something great in the future. Through her prayers and support and backings, I have been able to develop this determination."
((NARRATOR))
“The Struggle” came from children he saw in the market.
((Isaac Ekele, Artist))
“How they are suffering, and I saw one holding another trying to give him food. I just got that picture, and I said I am going to replicate what I see because I get my inspiration from my environment most times.”
((NARRATOR))
“Breaking Loose” is about empowering women.
((Isaac Ekele, Artist))
“The rope is already loosening up. It has to tell about gender inequality, how ladies before, they don’t get the opportunity to speak in their nation, especially in Africa, most times ladies are being kept quiet. They don’t want them to participate.”
((NARRATOR))
Ekele says he is encouraged by the public response.
((Isaac Ekele, Artist))
“I just want my audience to try to resonate with what I do. To try to reason the way I reason. That way they will be able to understand my kind of drawing because it is mostly based out of emotion.”
((NARRATOR))
In Denver, curator Shelby says it is emotion and effort that set Ekele apart.
((Shanna Shelby, Exhibit Curator))
“Sometimes we get caught up with time. Maybe it takes too long to create that portrait. But the respect that I give Isaac is that he spends that time. And he finishes the portrait. And they are personal to him, and the way that he makes them personal makes it personal to us too, and so we relate to that very deeply.”
((NARRATOR))
Ekele’s work is on display in the Colorado capital through the end of August.
((Scott Stearns, VOA News, Denver))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateAugust 4, 2022 20:01 EDT
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
