Here’s part of an article from Nigeria’s 234next.com about an exhibition of work by Onyema Offoedu-Okeke, a male artist inspired by the idea of women as divine beings:

‘Explaining the concept behind Libation, Onyema said, “It is the act of dropping special liquid such as honey, milk, wine or even blood, to implore the deities.” And just as a priest drips libation unto the ground, Onyema with his ‘drizzle’, creates the same emotive, ritualistic feel – entreating the souls of the departed and praying for the living as the African priest would.

Making use of mostly vertical lines and vivid colours like shades of blue, green and red, the artist creates the ‘Iyi Uwa’ (Oath of life) series, a collection of six almost identical paintings resembling a stream with a bed of rocks or broken pottery, which according to him, depicts a connection point and a flow of life from its spiritual beginnings through to the physical being until its eventual culmination. “I decided to do a lot of that, because I am interested in the idea,” he said.

Also, the female form seems to fascinate Okeke, as his collection for the new exhibition includes paintings such as ‘Organza Light’, ‘Wrapper Ritual’, ‘Beatitude’, and ‘A Drenching at Baptism’, all of which depict the ‘woman’- nude and in her natural environment. In explaining this, the artist remarked that, “The skin of a body is the earth, women are goddesses, and the womb is a chamber through which the earth is replenished. Pouring libation on a goddess is a way of honouring the earth, not in an erotic way, but in a reverential manner.”’

Find out more about “Libation: Entreating the Divine” here.