Resident Artist Ify Chiejina on the Intricacies of Her Figurative Compositions
©Ify Chiejina Photo: 2019, Richard Louissaint
Ifeatuanya ‘Ify’ Chiejina is Raven Editions’ first artist-in-residence in almost three years. Born and raised in Queens, the Nigerian American artist is interested in the complexities of being brought up in an African household in western society. Her artistic practice transforms drawing, painting, collage, and pattern design into ever-developing narratives about family, heritage, transformation, self-discovery, and identity. This multifaceted creative practice is instrumental in developing her distinctive and symbolic approach to portraiture.
“Creating portraits and figurative pieces is my way of indicating the importance of knowing thy self.” - Ify Chiejina.
With her background in philosophy, Chiejina’s artwork expresses the importance of self-discovery and how engaging in this work can come with unpacking individual and generational trauma. This exploration of self is often symbolized in her fascination with patterns. The irregularities in lines and shapes can be seen as embodiments of the significance of identifying the self with feelings and thoughts. Patterns embellish the figures she depicts, often seen decorating the clothing or background and signifying natural elements such as snakes and eyes.
We caught up with the artist during the first week of her residency with us.
Eyes Solemnly Swear, 2020 © Ify Chiejina
Q: What three words would you use to describe your artistic practice?
A: Reflective, thoughtful, and layered.
Q: And what about the act of making art? How would you describe that?
A: Analytical, experimental, and… process-based.
Q: Your work is very grounded in portraiture. Where do you think this stems from?
A: Definitely my family’s photo album. I was drawn to it for several reasons. It allowed me to see my parents before they married and became parents. Almost like I could see their sense of self, and I really loved capturing that through a painting, drawing, or mixed-media piece.
It was also a way to share my passion as an artist with them. They love the arts, but like most parents, they have their own thoughts about how I’ll be able to survive or make a living as an artist. But being able to capture them in their younger years, using them as a way to tell stories, and sharing that with them and other family members - - hearing their responses and the conversations my works generated, I was really interested in that.
Q: So it sparked a sort of generational oral history?
A: Yeah, exactly. Asking about certain family photos and the relationship my parents had with them created an entirely new dialogue that I don’t think would have been possible without my interest in them.
Q: Can you give a little insight into your artistic process?
A: Whenever I complete more detailed sketches, I like to take pictures of them and then alter them digitally. This way, I can see what happens if I mirror the image, play around with its symmetry, or enlarge certain things.
And I love patterns, which was sparked in me because of the black and white photos, the patterns in the clothing — whether it be in the outfit, wrappers, or headdress – and in my mind, I am always thinking about ways to depict that. I can look at a pattern and say, “Okay, I can make this,” but then I can also just go to the fabric store and find a pattern that suits or complements what I’ve seen and play around with that. I don’t necessarily produce the pattern, but I cut the fabric, do washes over it, or sometimes even distill on top of it, just to play around.
I want to do all of it… almost like leaving evidence of my own hand while also showing something I didn't create.
Q: So your work and process are transformative in nature? You see a picture and decide to make it into something new; in that process, you learn something new. You’re also changing its composition in this process of making it new.
A: Yeah, that word ‘transformative’ hits so close for me. In all of the pieces I make, especially self-portraits, I want to create something inspired by a photo, piece of artwork, or based on an experience. I love the idea that my process is transformative, but it’s not something that I started thinking about immediately. But that’s the beauty of describing my work, having conversations about it with others, and hearing certain words used to describe it. Just like the word reflective. It's not something I would have come up with myself until someone said, “So you do a lot of reflection in your work.” That got me thinking like “Oh, yeah, I do.”
The artist testing textures for hand-collaged headdresses, unique to each print.
I love having these conversations. Whether it be about where a particular photograph is from, the story behind it, making self-portraits, or choosing a specific image, I love that type of back-and-forth communication.
I don’t have a studio space; instead, I have to designate space within my bedroom or living room to create. But I find more value in my work based on where it is in the world, and the residency or fellowship I’m doing, because there’s more opportunity for me to have exchanges with people about art than I would have at home. It also lets me see from another person's perspective and think more about how people respond and interact with my work. Then I think about whether that suits the work, my practice, my creative process, and what I can do with it to create the next piece.
Q: In a recent Instagram video, you talked a bit about success as an artist. Can you tell us about how you’re rethinking success and how you hope that will shape you as an artist?
A: Yeah, I recently completed a fellowship through APEX Art to travel to Brighton, England, for a month. I participated in activities that were non-art-based, and at first, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about that because I’m usually making or working on something every day. And the idea of not doing that seemed so odd to me, but as soon as I landed, I started going from one activity to the next and just got comfortable with the idea of not creating.
Color testing for collaged elements of prints, by studio assistant Nick Roberts.
And those closest to me, like my sister, noted… “you know you look happy, and not to say that you weren't happy in New York, but it wasn't attached to you, like being an artist.” I wasn’t concerned about completing work, getting commissions, or selling art.
From there, I tried to let myself feel like I had succeeded because I woke up, got out of bed, and got dressed. That marked a new type of success for me. Of course, there are still accomplishments I hope to hit as an artist, like exhibitions and collaborations with other artists. But I want to give myself the freedom and the permission to acknowledge other areas where I'm successful. That has really allowed me to focus more on my overall success, acknowledge my health, and develop skills that are useful to me, not just as an artist. I’d rather concentrate on the things that will make me a better person and then have that reflected in who I am as an artist.
Q: So it’s more fluid than just one area you want to grow in?
A: Definitely. And my reason for sharing that on social media is because of the conversations I was finding myself in on social media. So many of the conversations were about how the algorithm had changed or how my reach was low. I just didn’t want to be stuck in that mindset because I was missing out on the other things I appreciate, like the conversations and the connections that can happen.
Original work That Thing Around My Neck from artist Ify Chiejina
Q: Can you tell us about what you're working on here at Raven Editions?
A: The prints are based on two pieces within a series of works entitled That Thing Around My Neck. I live with a mental health disorder, and I had an experience where I was hospitalized after an episode. Coming home after that, I felt like I had to re-learn how to do simple things again, and it was really important for me to create work as part of that.
I needed to produce art, but I also started to experiment with techniques that were untraditional for me. It’s pretty standard for me to need to stain or color paper, that's what I'm used to, but I started using tea and coffee and mixing them together. I wanted to see how it would look, to experiment with depicting my thoughts and feelings. I needed to find a way to create images that told my story.
For example, in one of the prints we’re working on, the hands are toward the chest, and there’s a very specific facial expression that captures some of what I was feeling. That disbelief or feeling like my brain is different is still sometimes difficult for me to process. But art-making allows me to cope with and communicate the heavy things I experienced.
It gave me a sense of power, despite how much I wasn’t feeling powerful at those moments and needed something familiar. This goal of wanting to create and finish a piece is familiar to me. Creating art became a process of transforming something traumatic into something beautiful that can grow with others as they interact with it.