Famous Umobuarie
Famous Umobuarie
Famous Ehimen Umobuarie is a young contemporary hyperrealism artist, who creates realistic drawings using the humble pencil and other mediums, such as the ballpoint pen. He was born in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. He started drawing at the age of five with his friends in school on the back of his notebooks, the chairs, doors of houses, and on the walls.
Drawing has really been so much to him ever since then till now. He hopes to create more amazing masterpieces in the future.
He studied Fine and Applied Arts in the University of BENIN, Edo State, Nigeria.
I generally draw from the things going on around me and my environment, society and circumstances to see if an idea, emotion, or critique can be communicated using bodies, symbols, and titles. People are amazing and I use different amazing souls as inspiration when creating a drawing. Our need to effectively communicate with each other is essential. If we cannot communicate, we cannot actually relate and bond. Furthermore, I draw in the genre of contemporary hyperrealism.
There Is something about each piece I create; you feel what it’s talking about when you look at it especially in reality, the textures communicate a feeling, each stroke tells a story of that Portrait.
Along with my interest in communication, I use my work as a means to communicate with people and tell stories. One prevalent image in my work the self portrait, "1975” inspired by late "Fela Kuti" the great legend who sang the song titled "Water nor get enemy". Kuti sings, “If you want to bathe your child, you go use water; if you want to cook you go use water; water calms a hot head". The drawing talks about the significance of water in the life of a human being; water is life and there's no one who can do without it.
I chose the Pen and the Pencil as my medium because it helps me communicate with my subjects in a very dynamic way. These tools are humble it has the ability to capture the mind of anybody, a baby or an adult. It’s just amazing. A single Led of Pencil is about to create different shades of grey that’s something I really love about pencils.
Meaning behind my works is actually for the soul, bringing awareness to those that are not aware through art. Speaking for people who can’t speak for themselves; especially those who are being oppressed by the government or society. I like my works to speak about things going on. Let it communicate! That’s what art is about.
My drawing style in contemporary hyperrealism, is creating drawings, sculptures, and paintings that looks photorealistic and capture emotion. Hyperrealism isn't just drawing from photographs but drawing something that passes a message of physical and emotional presence to the audience in a realistic way. In my work, drawing the female or male figure is for the purpose of communicating a feeling or an idea, it is not passive, it is not an object: it is an agent of expression.
