Oil Paintings by Samuel TakemBaiyee
Artist’s Statement
I am a self-formed artist, hailing from the West African country of Cameroon. I find inspiration by translating my innermost emotions into a visible piece of art, thereby giving myself a sense of accomplishment and freedom. It is this struggle of creation that allows me to go deeper into my imagination and keeps me delving into the spiritual, cultural, philosophical and psychological questions of human nature. In my paintings, form and color translate themes and concepts. This then has a liberating effect; while at the same time are evidence of the battle between intuition and intelligence.
To me, all colors have meaning and poetic affect and are not bound by gender or cognitive implications. The hues that I incorporate dictate themselves from my youth, and bold colors are uninhibited representatives of the fabrics of Africa and the traditional ritual ceremonies with which I grew up. While the display may seem random, it is through the asymmetrical randomness that the story is conceived.
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While oil is the medium I favor because its pigmentation is so rich, it is the palette knife that I apply the paint with that gives me the ability to translate my emotions into the physical world. I work impasto, taking the oil paint directly from the tube, and the energy and gestures I utilize are therefore very visual. The chromatic value of the paint, combined with the texture of application, creates the desired play of shadow and light. I contemplate in colors, create from a blank slate. The vibrancy of my current paintings is indicative of my deep emotional connection to the work. Every time I walk into the studio to engage the worlds of the spiritual and the physical, color and form is virtually liberated, bringing forth a piece with a life of its own—a personality and an identity, beyond my own wit. It is inexplicable, and it is this magic that encapsulates my being.
July 14, 2009:
The new paintings of Samuel TakemBaiyee are a measure of his deep psychological and philosophical concepts tied to the human spiritual experience.
Through process psychology, phenomenology and process philosophy coupled with Zen and Jodo-Shinshu Buddhism he is able to weave seamlessly the spiritual and the physical, meanwhile creating new motifs and symbols that translate into yet to be chartered territories.
Language and symbols to him are as boundless and limitless as the galaxies. Human emotions are hence captivated through his fearless journey to the unknown. To him the unknown is where he is most at home.
It is therefore his hope that the viewer finds the same spiritual connection.
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