Meet Paschal Ugwu | Visual Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Paschal Ugwu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paschal, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Thank you, talking about the thought process of creating my business, first of all I started with the idea of wanting to ‘freely pursue my dream’ (Art). I had this inner hunger of wanting to make that mistake I’m afraid of making and learning from it. I wanted to experience life as a young Guy and at the same time earn a living while doing what I love (Art). Those thought engineered the starting and continuity of my Art business.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Basically I am a visual Artist, and I create paintings for a living.
My art talks about my experiences, thought processes, mental health issues and lifestyle of people in my immediate environment. These creates the avenue for me to understand myself, the people around me and the world we live in. I paint abstract human figures in dark colours, with special emphasis on the faces and especially the eyes which I often exaggerates to illustrate my idea. Acrylic paint on canvas is my preferred medium of working, while my style of art is termed contemporary African art.

Getting to where I am today as an Artist was not an easy process, especially, coming from an average family. I found it difficult affording my necessary needs like materials which I need to create my work, these lead me to taking art commissions in other to afford these needs and settle some bills.

Before now, It was just me and my big dream of becoming what I love (artist) and earning a living through it. My passion and desire led me to studying Art in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where I obtained a bachelor of arts degree from the department of Fine and Applied Arts in 2018. Enrolling and being certified as an artist where the best things that happened to me because I could see myself getting closer to my dreams, which is something worth dancing and celebrating.
After school, I became a full-time studio artist, it wasn’t that easy at first, lots of confusion and misunderstanding added with pressure from society got me doubting my dreams. In attempt to defeat that and having a better understanding of my profession, I went through mentorship where I had to unlearn in other to learn new things. Those unforgettable steps led to my present.

Over the years, I have learnt that consistency in anything you do, brings one to achieving his/her goals and to recognition as well. so, I keep working towards achieving my goals.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
One of my favourite spots is the Jabi Lake Mall in Abuja, Nigeria. Here we can do some shopping, eat, drink, play games (especially virtual reality games), see a movie at the cinema section and enjoy the amazing view at the lake side. We can also visit some of my fellow artists’ studios and Art galleries to see different incredible artworks.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First of all a Special thanks to God, to my family for the guidance and support and for believing in me. Shout-out to my mentors Madu Chimezie, Clement Nwafor and Ike Gerald Chiemezie amongst many, who have guided me through the process, both morally and practically, also to my friends who showed interest and support in different ways; Ndubuzo Moses, Okoroafor Odinakachi, Matthew Eguavoen, E.D Adegoke and the rest, thank you all. And last but not the least, thank you ….. For giving me he opportunity to connect to the world through this interview.

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