Post-Adrenaline BluEs
Post-Adrenaline BluEs is, in simple terms, what words do to me. They ignite a fleeting high, linger as seeds within me that evolve into something else much later, or solidify into immovable weights that hold me back—literally. This collection explores the duality of words. Using ubé seeds and cement, in this collection, I explore the visual representation of two sides of the same coin. The ubé seeds, now waste, were picked from market squares and public spaces after they’d been licked clean and spat out and in this collection, they have been repurposed as items of value—into belts that drape around the human body, showing how words can bind us long after they’ve been spoken.
In collaboration with design studio JK MEOLI, accessories—bags, belts, and buttons—from a blend of these ubé seeds and coconut shells have been created as complementary pieces for this collection. Cement, sourced from friends in construction (thankfully sparing me the sideways glances from passerbys while picking seeds from the dustbin), became sculptures—rigid and unyielding. And with the precision of a surgeon and a trowel, I have shaped them to represent how words can solidify within us over time, morphing into the unmovable. The Nsukka made collection in collaboration with JK MEOLI, is an almost desperate attempt to spark a dialogue between opposites—a sensual dance between restriction and release, befores and afters.
How do words make you feel?
