Akajiuwa is a surrealistic work that explores the interplay of the divine and the human in the workings of the world. Etymologically, the word Akajiuwa is an Igbo phrase formed from the condensation of three words “aka” (hand/hands), “ji” (holds/holding), “uwa” (the world). Thus, we can translate the phrase Akajiuwa to “the hand that holds the world.”
The work is both a mirror and an observer of society.
The central focus of the work is the goddess Akajiuwa. Like a potter, she forms earth and other planets (attached to her sash). The sash on which the planets are attached is shaped like the sign “libra”. This points to the fine balance, symmetry, and harmony she strives to maintain across all the worlds she forms. Garbed in traditional Igbo beads and finery, Akajiuwa is the picture of royalty.
She is creativity and divinity, energy, and potential.
The greatest of all artists.
Unlike the patricentric image adopted by monotheistic religions, the artist makes Akajiuwa female, a testament to the female’s ability to create, give life, and bring into existence. Succinctly put, she is the great mother, the source of all that was, all that is, and all that will be.
Akajiuwa’s face is a canvas, painted over with palpable grief. Her tears are liquid thunder as she weeps at the horrors of the world, the blood her earth soaks up each day, and the screams of the innocent melding into the atmosphere. Just like a potter cannot intervene in the fate of his creation, Akajiuwa allows the world she forms to run as it sees fit. Ever the great observer, she just looks on.
Heart breaking but never interrupting.
At the bottom of the canvas are two other artists: A man and a woman. Like chisels getting into hard-to-reach corners, they reshape, reform, and deform Akajiuwa’s masterpiece. They correct the mistakes of Akajiuwa’s creations as they see fit and paint the world in their own image and according to their inspirations.
Disclaimer: The work is multi-tiered in meaning and the interpretations given are those of the author, not the artist. The artist believes each work has a soul and speaks to each one of us differently. Thus, he invites you to interpret the work as it speaks to you.
To connect with the artist, check out his page on Instagram.
Originally published on Medium.
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