A Delightful Conversation with Bunmi Agusto
Bunmi Agusto is a Nigerian artist who lives and works in Lagos and London. Her artworks explore cultural theory and the evolution of selfhood through the lens of fantasy. For the majority, she works predominantly with pastel pencils and mixed media. Some of her major influences are Amos Tutuola’s The Palm-Wine Drinkard, Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her work has been exhibited internationally at galleries and art spaces such as the DADA Gallery, London, the Rele Gallery, Lagos, the Karen Tronel Gallery, London, the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, and the Christie's Education, London. I had the pressure of asking Bunmi about what she strives to achieve as an artist, what are some of her other interests other than the arts, and how art can help with understanding identity.
UZOMAH: What type of surrealism do you prefer: abstract or figurative?
BUNMI: Figurative.
U: What about the art you create makes it so unique for you?
B: My art practice is currently an amalgamation of all my major interests so it all comes so genuinely to me. For example, I love playing adventure video games that take place in fictional worlds (like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Little Big Planet) and now I have created my own fictional world with fictional people. Within that, I have also snuck in my other interests such as psychology, culture, metaphysics, and architecture, and have them embedded in narratives I have told or am yet to tell. So the art I create is me exploring the aspects of existence and reinventing it.
U: What do you strive to achieve as an artist?
B: I think I’ve already achieved one of my goals, which was creating a practice that fulfills and excites me. Beyond critical success, I’d say my ambitions go beyond being an artist and to using that gained influence to create a significant positive impact on the Nigerian creative ecosystem. I’ve already started working with the group Young Aspiring Nigerian Architects to create an educational resource that pertains to West African architecture.
Bunmi Agusto, Between The Cornrows: Immigrant & Children (2021). Courtesy of the Artist
U: What has art taught you about yourself?
B: Everything. I wouldn’t say art itself taught me things about myself directly, but the process of building my practice did. My practice was born out of me studying psychology, history, and cultural theory to help me analyze my own feelings and lived experiences moving between Lagos and London. And now, it has gone beyond that. As I previously mentioned, it let me take full ownership of the things I love that aren’t always taken as seriously in academia — fantasy and Sci-Fi genres — and use that as a lens to create.
Bunmi Agusto, Braided Labyrinth IV (2021). Courtesy of the Artist
U: How do you choose colors for each piece?
B: My works depict a Wonderland-style world in my head and with any world, there are neighborhoods that look different from one another. So far, I’ve mostly explored this thick braided forest that is hard to navigate, and therefore that location is depicted as very dark. So essentially the location and tone within that world determine where I choose to go with the color palette.
Bunmi Agusto, The Water Remembers II (2021). Courtesy of the Artist
U: How can art be used to address identity and other issues Africans face in society?
B: I believe art always reflects our lived realities. As a Nigerian, I can see how aspects of our histories trickle down into creating our collective identity today in different art forms such as fine art, music, fashion, literature, etc. Even where there is the heavy Western influence that is a reflection of the fact that we were colonized and under British rule for so long. It is one of those major historical periods that occurred that can’t be easily erased and is therefore reflected in our art. However, I think a lot of Nigerians are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with using western models where they do not fit or belong so I believe we would are heading towards a cultural renaissance where we reclaim our own ancient practices, fuse them with what works from Western models and build on top of that. But we first (or simultaneously) have to survive corrupt governments, severe income inequality, and climate change amongst other problems.
U: What are some of your other interests other than the arts?
B: I’ve gotten really into making mind-maps as part of my process, so that is all covered in Realm of Interest 1.3. These days, I am mostly interested in metaphysics, West African Architecture, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Bunmi Agusto, The Path Taken (2021). Courtesy of the Artist
U: How do you use a fusion of surrealism to better understand your identity as both a female artist and a Nigerian?
B: I wouldn’t say I use surrealism to better understand my identity as a female artist. I am a female artist and I am a feminist so that probably spills into my work naturally. So I wouldn’t say I am really “trying” to understand that about myself as an individual or a member of society; I already believe I understand it.
What is this complex entangling of history, psychology, and sociology for me personally is being Nigerian, and that therefore requires a conscious attempt at understanding. In my Braided Labyrinth series, the subjects are navigating these braided fields whose compositions are based on national flags so the subjects are, quite literally, navigating nationality. And that’s the fun in surrealism and fantasy; I get to explore these ideas in a very tongue-in-cheek way. So in that series, for example, navigating nationality is no longer this mental discourse one has in their head, it becomes a physical activity. Many aspects of my works are based on language so they are much more literal than people realize.
Bunmi Agusto, Surfacing, (2021). Courtesy of the Artist
U: Do you have any mentors or professors who helped you on your journey as an artist?
B: Yes, but I’d rather not namedrop them. I have one mentor in particular who I’ve been in contact with for about five years now and there are also the great artists and gallerists with whom I’ve had one-off sessions when I’d just ask them the questions I had at the time. They advised me on how to navigate the industry and I took some of that advice and defied some others to create the path that worked best for me. I think it is important to be able to agree and disagree with advice, so it’s always great to hear a good range of opinions.
For more information about Bunmi’s work at her site. Also, follow her on Instagram.
