WITHOUT MATH THERE’S NO ART – CLEMENT COLOURS
Mathematician Clement Colours is today making a living as an artist. He reveals the connection between arts and maths
Recently you were seen doing a mural in Kaduna while some children watched. Were you tutoring them?
I was actually teaching my apprentices how to paint on the wall, so the children picked interest and were watching also.
How many apprentices do you have and how did you start training them?
Presently I have twenty-three apprentices. I have graduated one and he’s presently on his own. It started since 2012 when I opened my first art studio with one apprentice How did you start painting, generally?
I started painting in 2007 when I was still an apprentice, about ten years now. It may intrigue you to know that before 2007 I never knew how to apply paint on my drawings.
I obtained a BSc. in Mathematics from University of Maiduguri. While doing my Youth Service in Kano, I taught mathematics in a school. It was immediately after my service year that I opened another art studio in Ungwar Maigero in Kaduna, which is our new art training centre. There, we register and train artists. Why did you switch to drawing and painting after studying mathematics?
I didn’t switch. I was studying mathematics in school, but anytime I returned home, I learnt art because it has always been one of my hobbies. So are you now fully into art? Yes, I am fully into that now. How relevant would you say mathematics is to painting? Without mathematics there’s no art Why?
I’m just very lucky to have studied mathematics and then do paintings, because mathematics makes your reasoning over things very easy. You think very fast than other artists. I would put it this way: art is a way of life, but mathematics sums up every aspect of your life and makes it very easy for you to have control. So artists have studied painting as a major course, but if you analyze my paintings, you won’t believe that I did not study it in school. This is because my passion, which is painting, is intertwined with pure mathematics. So, there’s calculation involved in painting? Yes. There’s real calculation involved. In fact, everything about drawing and painting revolves around calculation. The use of your material needs calculation so it can be properly managed. If you have a reference in the physical for your work, then you need to calculate well in bringing it out.
You painted a portrait of President Buhari as your passing out Community Development Service project during your service year. What inspired it?
The inspiration came from the crowd I saw at the NYSC camp. I wanted to do something that will differentiate me from the crowd, something that will be national, and not just about Kano State. I wanted to make an impact during my service year and particularly, make history. What’s your favourite artwork so far? It’s a portrait painting of myself. It was a challenge I gave myself. What are you working on at the moment?
Right now I’m working with my apprentices. I have picked just six of them for a painting challenge. I keep giving them paintings of different past leaders, heroes and famous musicians to paint. So, they will keep painting until they grow their skill. We started this challenge in March and it will keep them busy up till the end of this year. They may not always get it right, but if they keep at it, they will perfect it with time.