Colours in Harmony: Inside the World of Mesoma Onyeagba

When it comes to art, Mesoma Onyeagba can pretty much do it all. From painting to textiles to larger installation projects, her creativity and technical skills seem to know no bounds. In the spring of 2022 , she graduated with a BFA from the University of Ottawa, and her graduation project was truly a sight to behold. In a small room, its ceiling artfully draped with dreamy fabric, a model posed in a corset fit for a princess. Her full-length skirt was made up of panels of various sizes, each one showing a different brightly coloured abstract design. The panels are made using yarn and a tool known as a punch needle, a technique that’s become something of a trademark for Onyeagba, as she’s incorporated it in several smaller pieces before taking on this ambitious dress project. This method is typically used in the creation of hand-made rugs, but Onyeagba wants her pieces to hang in galleries, and so far, she’s been successful. In July alone, she was a part of two group exhibitions: one locally in the OAG’s ‘How I Love You’ exhibition, and another at the Court Tree Collective in Brooklyn, New York. I sat down with Onyeagba earlier this summer to talk a bit about her work, her inspiration, and where she sees herself heading next.

Onyeagba, Mesoma. Dress. What You See is Me. 2022. Yarn and punch needle.

In your interview with Debaser, you mention that your background was originally in architecture and technical drawing. How do you bring the technique and precision from that field into the more abstract work you do today? Or have you found it more useful to let that go and start from scratch?

Well, it has really been useful in my abstraction, especially technical drawing, because I learned how to construct cubes and shapes [when I was] back home [in Nigeria]. So that has really stuck in my head…it’s like, encrypted in my brain. I have to do technical, geometric [work], it’s definitely something I’m more comfortable with. It has really, really helped me and I’m going to stick with it. It’s really nice.

Onyeagba, Mesoma. Punch Purple. 2021. Yarn and punch needle.

When I was looking at your portfolio I saw that you work with a punch needle. How did you get into working with that, and what was your journey with it like?

Initially, when I came to uOttawa for art, I was more comfortable with abstraction. I don’t know why, I felt like…somehow, low-key, abstraction is just easier to make fast, like you just put on everything and that’s art, you know? And I felt like I needed to do more hard work. I don’t know why, that’s just me. So I was like okay…let’s make my canvas more interesting. Let’s try to touch it. Because initially I also wanted to study fashion design, like clothes and everything. So this punch needle thing, when I saw it on TikTok and Instagram I was like, okay, this is actually useful, this is actually close to textile, close to art - like painting. So I could actually merge them. I don’t know if you’ve seen the dress I made?

Oh yeah I did see that, that was so amazing!

Yeah [I was really] pushing that space, you can see the geometry and the abstraction and the ability to touch the abstraction, I want to make that possible with the punch needle.

Do you plan on incorporating fashion design and more 3D elements like that into your work in the future?

Yes. I’m starting my Master’s in August, so I’ve really started sketching some stuff. Because I have to be very, very serious and work really hard if I want to get the recognition, so I’ve been [sketching a lot]. I want to combine paintings, texture, and abstraction into one. Yes, let me represent Black women, but let’s go to a different world, come to my world and see them in a different space.

Textile art is sometimes maligned in the fine art world, because of its association with traditional ‘women’s work’. Has that been your experience at all as a female artist who works with textiles?

To be honest, not really. It’s just when people start asking me these questions, I’m like what? Huh? Okay, whatever, I’m still going to do it. It doesn’t really bother me, to be honest. I don’t really let those kinds of things bother me. I mean, I guess I should read about it, because I haven’t read about it when people ask me. [laughs] I understand where you’re coming from, I just keep my head forward and keep doing what I want, because no one can control me. I have to ignore some specific things, because they’re not really relevant. Art is what I want it to be.

Speaking of representing Black women, in your Instagram bio, you state: “I represent Black women culturally, explore abstraction for the self, and depict exuberance as a whole.” Could you expand a bit on this? Specifically, how do you incorporate representation of Black women into your more abstract work, when abstraction and representation are so often seen as opposites in art?

How I see my abstraction when I combine it with the women - usually the women are the people I know, the people that when I grow old I want to remember, I want to see that painting and be like, I remember that moment. So I feel abstraction represents my mind, represents my world, so I’m painting them in my world. They have made my world brighter. That’s why you see the colours, you see them combining with abstraction, because like I said, initially I started with abstraction, that’s what I was comfortable with. So I see abstraction as my world.

And since it’s your world, it’s all representing you.

Exactly. I’m mostly only comfortable representing Black women that I know, to help me represent other Black women. You get a source of connection. I want to paint people that are important to me. So they are useful, I can put them in my house and be like yes, I know this person. [Laughs].

Moving from Nigeria to Canada must have been a big adjustment for you. Has moving from a country like Nigeria, where Black people are the majority group, to a country like Canada, where Black people are a racial minority, affected the way you think about representation in art?

Well, I mostly get my strict thoughts, like my perfectionism, because of the way I grew up. In my country, they laugh at [the arts] and say I won’t be successful there, and that’s where I get the urge to be perfect. I’m like, I need to get this right, because they might be right, I don’t know. But when I came here, it’s more free. It’s when I got into abstraction, I was more confident to say “I do abstraction”. Art isn’t really valued that much [in Nigeria], especially at the time when I was there, but now? Instagram? It’s making people more open-minded, from my observation. 

So I feel coming here has made me less strict with myself, more creative, more happy with myself and my expression. Because like I said, I was studying to be an architect, that kind of thing, just because it’s close to art. I just needed art, anything art related. So when I came here I was free. I thought, okay, no one to judge me so I’m just going to do what I want. Freedom, here. I don’t really feel…I haven’t really witnessed racism yet? I don’t know…maybe one day when I have, I can talk about it, but right now I’m a bit lucky. I consider myself lucky.

Well that’s really interesting. You’ve worked in a lot of different mediums. Do you have a favourite, and do you ever think you’ll specialize more, or do you enjoy the variety?

I don’t know. I’m more comfortable with painting, because I’ve already mastered it. And painting is much quicker for me, and it gives you the space to be very imaginative. But no, I don’t think I’ll just stick to [painting], that’s why I want to incorporate everything. Because usually they say you have to have one way in life, but human beings are very complex and we have different characters, why can’t I have different favourites? I don’t have one favourite.

Onyeagba, Mesoma. Skate Piece. 2020. Oil and acrylic on canvas.

That’s why I’m like, I’m going to work three times as hard when I get to the new school I will go to, and try to make people rebel and say you can do more than one art style. You’re going to see the textiles, the paintings, even photography. I’m going to make it work. I’m very confident I’m going to make it work, and try to change that mindset that you have to have one style, you know? I don’t think I have that, I’m not just one personality. I have other stuff, I have other crazy stuff, I change with different people. So why would I have one style?...But I guess, gallery-wise, they want one thing. I’m going into installation now, because that’s where they allow other things. So yeah, I think that’s where I want to go now, installation.

That’s really exciting. Where are you going to do your Master’s?

School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Wow! That’s cool! Semi-related: what is the biggest challenge you’ve taken on so far as an artist, and what challenge do you hope to take on next?

I felt nervous with the dress. Because people have a lot to say. You know, the corset, it has that European style to it. I was scared that when people would critique it, they would be like, this is not art. What is this dress? That’s where my insecurity was peaking. So I’m trying to embrace myself, because this is what I like, I’m trying to just do what I want. But yeah, it makes me really, really nervous, that they will say this isn’t art.

[And the next big challenge] I think is mostly getting through my Master’s. Because also, I’m normally future-oriented, I like to plan for my future, so right now I have planned that I will go to Chicago. So when I get there I will know the next thing. [When I’m in] that environment, I’ll know what to do next. Right now I’m just, eh, Chicago.

Yeah, and once you get there you’ll start figuring it out. That totally makes sense. To wrap up, what is the number one message or theme that you want people to take away from your art?

Usually, especially for my abstraction, I like to create harmony. With the use of colours, no colour is alone. Every colour has its own friend. This is called ‘Sundry Society’. Usually, with my abstraction, it’s mostly about society, like different societies, coming together to form one. Harmony. That kind of thing. My artwork is more about thinking about the brighter future, together. That’s why, when I do installation, I want you to come escape with strangers into my world…You know how [on] drugs, you just forget who you are? I want my work to have that effect. Somehow. At least for ten minutes. Just come and have a conversation. If I go big, [with] my space, you come into my space, you have a conversation with strangers, you know, interact, see what you like most. What do you see? What do you feel? Just a space to connect and forget your problems, at least for ten minutes.

Onyeagba, Mesoma. Sundry Society. 2021. Yarn and punch needle.

All in all, during our conversation I was overwhelmed not only by Mesoma’s talent, but also by the enthusiasm she has for her work, and for art in general. Her drive to push herself forward through new techniques, as well as her ability to pick up new skills and incorporate them into her work while maintaining a unified style has honestly been very inspiring to me. And hopefully she will continue to inspire many other artists in the years to come. You can also get inspired by Mesoma’s work on her website www.mesomaonyeagba.com or on her Instagram @artbymesoma. I know I, for one, can’t wait to see where she goes next.