Jacqueline Suowari, using art as a tool of dialogue leading to change
Jacqu eli nesuo war i is ball point pen artist and dr aughts woman. her foray into art started from the early age of five and for the past decade, she has stunned her ar dent collectors with magnetic pieces which overtime have grown larger than life. jacqueline is motivated by the intriguing art of drawing. the thousands of ball point pen strokes which makeup every single piece of her work reveals the countless hours which it takes to achieve perfection in here yes, with a single piece sometimes taking several months to complete. In each piece, she combines various elements of design to share her experiences and inspiration with the audience. Jacqueline has participated in several group exhibitions and Art fairs locally and internationally. her last solo exhibition was concluded in march 2020 at the Adrien nears ht centre for performing arts in miami, florida, in the united states of america.
Jacqueline has been featured in several publications including chuk wu emeka ben bos ah’ s book“the art of nigerian women” which chronicles some of the best of nigeria’ s artists and most recently an international publication by san du publishing“ball point art: complexity in simplicity” which features 30 (thirty) ball point artists from aroundtheworld.
She is currently represented by avant gallery in the united Statesofamerica.
Early Years
Iwas born in Zaria, Kaduna State. My Dad was working at Ahmadu Bello University (A.B.U) at the time and we lived on Campus. I have a lot of fond memories from Christmas and Salah celebrations in our neighborhood when I was younger. Everyone knew each other, if you were walking down the road; they knew whose child you were and where your house was.
It was a very cordial and warm neighborhood despite the fact that we were from different tribes, countries and practiced different religions. This gave me an unbiased outlook on religious and tribal differences.
My parents were guardians to many young adults and students, a lot of them stayed with us, so I had more early interactions with older people and this continued throughout my formative years.
As a teenager, I began to notice the disparity in levels of consciousness and understanding between people.
I became fascinated with watching scenarios, how they played out, how they were interpreted and how interpretations varied from one individual to another.
When I was 16, we moved to Port Harcourt in Rivers State. I had just gotten the admission to study Fine Art at the University of Port Harcourt. Life was very different there. First of all, it was a very big city compared to Zaria. People went about their businesses differently and were very suspicious of overly nice strangers (laughs).
It was overwhelming for me at first, the many nuances that come with living in a big city but as time went by, I found new fascinations.
I began to notice the impact of growing up with a “single story”. How stories influence people’s perception of life and of other people. I began to observe the impacts of stories and how they can be used to sell real or tainted narratives.
With all these curiosities, I became very obsessed with understanding and exploring human expressions, emotional responses, body language and identity and how these factors affect the communication and receptivity of any given story. These are the themes I’ve been exploring with my work.
Through the work that I do, I am realizing that even though we
Discovering your love for ballpoint pen artistry, being a draughtswoman
I have always loved drawing. I began to really draw when I was 5. My mum would buy crayons, coloured pencils and paper, and I was pretty content with those materials.
When I got into secondary school, the readily available writing material was a ballpoint pen. I began to do a lot of sketches with the pen in my school books.
In University, while studying Fine Art, I abandoned the pen as it wasn’t a traditional medium for creating art.
The love for drawing was further ingrained in me during the months I spent at the Universal Studio of Art in Lagos doing industrial training in 2009. We practically drew every day for throughout the six months of my training. Drawing for me, had now become a way of life.
In 2011, while I was serving, my senior colleague Duke Asidere invited me to participate in a drawing-only art exhibition. I was very excited. As I began to create the pieces for the show, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the level of contrast the charcoals and pastels were giving. Also, the intricacies of my shading were always lost. One day, I decided to use a black ballpoint pen and the results were amazing. It solved all the problems; the details, the contrast, needless to say, I was hooked on the black ballpoint pen.
Being represented by American based Avant Gallery with spaces on NY and Miami
The internet is a small world. We met online, started a conversation and began what has now blossomed into a beautiful relationship.
Being represented by Avant Gallery has been a very humbling and overwhelming experience for me. The ability to connect with new audiences and observe how my work makes impact in their lives, even though the stories I tell are inspired by my immediate environment (Nigeria), is simply amazing. Also, I have been participating in several art fairs and group shows in America. This has opened up my work to new audiences and experiences. Finally, I have a new and exciting international collector base and more collaborations on the way.
Do you feel artists are appreciated and well valued in Nigeria? What is your personal experience?
Art appreciation in Nigeria has grown over the years. I’ve been practicing professionally for over 10 years now and in that time, the Nigerian art scene has grown exponentially.
There was a time Artists were regarded as the crazy people of society, people who had nothing to offer or contribute to the grand scheme of things. That has long changed.
With the springing up of Art institutions, organisations and events like Art X, in the country, especially in Lagos, people in Nigeria have begun to see and respect Art as a tool of dialogue that leads to change, change of opinions and perceptions and ultimately, the birth of a new way of life.
This in itself is the duty of an Artist - to provide a lens through which one can see life differently.
What informs your choice of persons to draw and how do you know what method to use for which?
I am inspired by body language and expression. But recently, I’ve been inspired by identity; how identity plays a role in expression and how a person’s expression affects the way their communication is received by another.
From experience, I’ve realized it’s not about how people look, what they wear, how they talk but it’s about reading between the lines and finding the “Why”.
As to the method of portrayal, I can’t tell what design the figure would yield at the finished stage at the beginning; Sometimes, it’s a maze which I’m excited to follow, sometimes it’s pretty straight forward but in all, I just listen to the work and follow where it takes me.
How long does it take you to finish a drawing and how do you pull it through?
It takes from two weeks to two months, depending on the size of the work. The small works, which are about 3 by 4 feet (I rarely do that size now), take two weeks. My daily work routine is pretty much fixed. I’m in the studio by 10 am and I work till 5:30 pm on weekdays. Although, when I’m really fired up about a piece, I get engrossed in it. I would work throughout the day and sometimes at night to finish it.
Exhibitions you have participated in and your first experience at one
My first exhibition was a group exhibition organized by The Department of Fine Art and Design at the University of Port Harcourt in 2007. I can remember feeling some anxiety before the show opened to the public. When the show opened, the feedback from the guests about my work was very exciting. From then on, I began to look forward to participating in exhibitions.
In the course of my career, I have participated in over 30 group exhibitions. The last one which was concluded in March was a solo exhibition at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida.
My experiences with exhibitions have always been very rewarding. It’s all always to get public feedback about your work. One of the most memorable experiences for me was exhibiting during the Art Basel week in Miami. There was a flood of feedback, it was really overwhelming.
What exhibition are you looking forward to?
The one exhibition I am happily looking forward to is my first Nigerian solo exhibition scheduled to hold sometime this year. Right now, there isn’t a definite date because of the current pandemic we’re fighting as a nation, but I’m excited about the new frontiers the exhibition will bring when it comes to life.
You studied Fine Arts in University of Port Harcourt and majored in Painting, how then did you end up in ball pen drawing?
After school, I was a painter for a while and my paintings sold pretty well but, I just wanted to draw. I found that I could express myself in an entirely different form with the ballpoint pen.
What gets me about ballpoint pen is the individuality of the strokes. I’ve never been a hyperrealist artist. I like art that offers new details each time you look at it. I like art that is complex; art that has intricacies. With the ballpoint pen, I’m able to create those intricacies. I actually tried it with charcoal, pastel and pencil. With pencil, I drifted from normal pencil to 2b, 3b, 5b, but I didn’t get what I want. Somehow, the strokes always blur out.
LIKE AMEYO ADADEVOH, the patriotic Nigerian physician who was famous for curbing a wider spread of Ebola virus outbreak in Nigeria in 2014 by discovering and placing the patient, Patrick Sawyer, in quarantine at a hospital in Lagos despite pressures from the Liberian Government then, another nationalistic Nigerian medic, AMARACHUKWU KAREN ALLISON, an Imo-born graduate of Medicine and Surgery from University of Port Harcourt is on the path of greatness as she discovered the first Italian index case of Coronavirus right there at Ewekoro Lafarge Africa’s Plant Clinic in Ogun State, Nigeria, on the 27th February, 2020 which marked the begining of novel COVID-19 in the country. Recently, Lafarge Africa media team took up young Dr Amarachukwu in expository, online interview on the discovery of the index case of COVID-19 in Nigeria and what Nigerians need to do contain and exterminate the deadly virus. She has continuously receiving avalanche of accolades from Nigerians; first from Ogun State Government that hosts cement plant where the first index case was recorded, Nigeria’s Government as well as local and international partners that are too numerous to mention. Although, the media chat was conducted online by the media team from Lafarge Africa PLC, a member of Lafargeholcim, RAZAQ AYINLA, Southwest Bureau Chief, monitored and reported the interview here. Excerpts:
Alot of people out there want to know more about you. Can you tell us more about Dr. Amarachukwu Allison, where are you from? Where did you school and how long have you been in practice?
In addition to being a Medical doctor, I am also a fitness enthusiast and an entrepreneur. I’m from Imo state. I graduated from the University of Port Harcourt in 2013. I have been practicing medicine for almost 7 years now.
The last couple of weeks must have been overwhelming for you. How has it felt receiving appreciation messages from Nigerians across the World? Yes, you are very correct. What started as a normal day at the (Lafarge Africa) clinic turned out to be an important day in my career, the identification of the first case of Coronavirus disease in Nigeria. Thanks to the clear protocols in place at the clinic, we knew exactly what to do and worked closely with the public authorities.
Following the confirmation of the case, myself and my colleagues were quarantined for 14 days. It was a challenging experience, but I turned it into an opportunity to self-develop as much as possible through online courses. The support I received from my family and my employer, International SOS, contributed to my wellbeing. My teammates and I came out of quarantine in good health and the patient had also recovered. After the quarantine, I didn’t expect to be acknowledged by the Ogun State Government for doing my job, it was very humbling. I take this opportunity to thank all those who sent me so many support messages.
Can you tell us what raised your suspicion about the patient’s condition when you encountered him? Being a medical doctor, I had been following the evolution of what was then still the Coronavirus disease outbreak and now categorized as a pandemic. My organization, International SOS has also provided us training and up to date information on the virus. Therefore, considering the symptoms and the travel history of the patient I followed established protocols and escalated the case to my superiors as a potential COVID-19 case.
Can you give us some insight into your frame of mind and how you felt at the time you thought of escalating to the Government?
I was very concerned about my provisional diagnosis because the patient’s symptoms didn’t fully meet the case definition and he had no known exposure to COVID-19. However because of his recent travel history, It seemed prudent to maintain a high index of suspicion. He had traveled from a country that had already reported multiple COVID-19 cases. The protocols we have implemented for a suspected case are extremely robust so it was easy to have this escalated to make sure that all precautionary measures were taken as soon as possible. I was glad to be able to support the patient and help to protect the other employees and wider community.
In a bid to educate people reading this, what steps did you take immediately you suspected he had Coronavirus? How were you able to protect yourself and others?
Like I earlier mentioned, we followed our protocols for a suspected case, I offered him a mask, I increased the distance between us to a safe distance, washed my hands for about 40 seconds and wore my personal protective equipment ( PPE) and then I escalated and informed my teammates. We then decontaminated the clinic. The protocol has worked as none of the clinic staff got infected while providing care to this patient and transporting him to the government facilities.
The current pandemic is new to everyone and a lot of people don’t know what to do. What tips do you have for people reading this to protect themselves and their loved ones from the spread of coronavirus? I would implore everyone to please follow all the outlined preventive measures. That is wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water using the proper technique or use an alcohol-based sanitizer. Cough/sneeze into the flex of your elbow or tissue, discard properly and wash your hands. Do not touch your face, particularly your eyes, nose or mouth to prevent the virus from entering your system. Practice social distancing, stand at least 1.5 meters from people, avoid crowded places. If you feel unwell, stay home and inform your local health authorities.
Coincidentally, it’s Women’s month. Can you tell us how you’ve been able to succeed as a woman in your field? Also, what advice do you have other women who are starting out their careers in the medical field?
I have never been one to let being a woman deter me from setting goals and striving to achieve them. I believe wholly that every failed attempt brings me closer to my set goal.
That said, my advice to women starting out in the medical field would be ‘Do not entertain the thought that you deserve less for being a woman. Know that you would also rise by lifting others, and there is strength and dignity in asking for help’.
Is there any message you would like to pass to Nigerians during this time?
This is a very critical time for Nigeria. I would like to impress on us all the need and importance to strictly adhere to all outlined precautionary measures that have been put in place by the local health authorities and the World Health Organisation. We need to join the global effort to address the COVID-19 pandemic. To my fellow health workers, we are at the frontline and let us do all the best that we can to defend our nation in this fight against COVID-19, but always remember ‘Safety First!’.
My special prayers to the health workers all around the world who have paid the supreme sacrifice and to all the families who have lost loved ones.
Finallytoallourunsungheroes,thankyou.