My mother and father have been a part of a gaggle of Nigerians who got here to review within the UK. They met and married right here and I used to be born in London; then they moved again to Nigeria with me after I was a yr or two previous. Rising up, I used to be surrounded by Yoruba tradition and impressed by quite a lot of the native art work my dad collected and placed on the partitions.
Returning to London as a youngster, I felt like an alien. All the pieces appeared overseas and I struggled to know individuals’s factors of reference. I spent a few years after college working within the pharmaceutical business earlier than transferring again to my old flame: artwork. I made a dwelling for some time as a business photographer, but it surely took me some years to start out specializing in the extra private work that actually fulfils me.
As a Yoruba man dwelling within the diaspora, quite a lot of my work attracts on elements of my heritage, and that’s the case with the figures on this {photograph}. Egúngún (masquerade) festivals that includes costumes like these happen in Nigeria yearly, representing the return of deceased ancestors. As a child, I got here throughout one in all these masqueraders, who appeared like an enormous, otherworldly creature. This highly effective determine moved by way of the gang with individuals dispersing earlier than it and I used to be transfixed – frightened, but in addition in awe. I used to be actually struck by the best way it inhabited the house, and that visible reminiscence has all the time stayed with me.
About 20 years later I travelled to Benin, the place Yoruba traditions are additionally very a lot current. I made two visits with a purpose to confront the masquerade that I noticed as a toddler, and to satisfy the individuals behind the costumes. It’s simple sufficient to search out egúngún strolling across the streets throughout the Vodun season, however getting to sit down down and have a dialog with them is a unique matter. The one who wears the costume is a secret – although it’s all the time a person. Ultimately, by discovering the best individuals to talk to and making connections I used to be in a position to speak to a few of these concerned and {photograph} them, too.
Whereas I used to be in Benin, I received a dressing up made for myself to proceed the venture in London. The design course of may be very religious and secretive, and through its creation I wasn’t even allowed to satisfy the tailors. However again within the UK I used to be at the least ready to make use of my information of what I’d seen to assist create the costumes on this {photograph}. They’re very heavy, there’s quite a lot of layered material, with jewelry and located objects – every part from shells to bottle tops. I labored with a gaggle known as Moko Somõkõw, who seem as these Moko Jumbie characters, an evolution of the aesthetic of the egúngún masquerades. They’ve skilled for years to carry out on stilts, each within the Caribbean and within the UK. The members I collaborated with are primarily based in Newcastle and the costumes have been photographed in websites alongside the coast north of there. I wished places referencing port cities as they characterize an area the place migration occurs.
I deliberate for the shoot to be very early, as a result of I wished the morning mild because the solar got here up, and in addition hoped to keep away from inflicting a ruckus. Even the smallest of the giants is about 10ft tall, so I by no means anticipated to go utterly unnoticed. Positive sufficient, there have been youngsters searching of home windows and I needed to clarify what we have been doing to a passing gentleman. It began to rain whereas we have been making ready however I managed to seize the moody mild I’d wished. It’s fairly surreal to have cultural effigies of Yoruba tradition on this northern European house. I like that there’s a Land Rover parked within the background: that juxtaposition of western and African cultures.
My pictures of the brand new giants are supposed as a part of an exploration into how cultures evolve. It made sense to shoot them within the UK as a result of they spotlight how my tradition, as a Yoruba man, has moved by way of the transatlantic slave commerce. Additionally they remind me of how I, too, am a hybrid of each cultures. In a way, I’m additionally a masquerade – my ancestors inhabit my nostril and my eyes. The form of my face is principally an extended record of people that have contributed to how I look and who I’m.
Àsìkò’s CV
Born: London, 1978
Educated: Self-taught
Influences: “Gustav Klimt, Wangechi Mutu, Tim Walker, Kehinde Wiley, and most significantly African tradition, particularly my Yoruba heritage.”
Excessive level: “My work showcased in two main public artwork installations final yr, with MTArt company in Knightsbridge and with The World Reimagined in Trafalgar Sq..”
Low level: “A interval of despair in 2014-15 when my profession took a nosedive. It pressured me to consider objective and authenticity, and pushed me to concentrate on private work.”
Prime tip: “Discover a private venture, one that’s outlined by you, your journey, your humanity, your coronary heart. Additionally hold creating, no matter whether or not the telephone rings or not – simply hold creating authentically.”
