By MCPHILIPS NWACHUKWU
There are several ways that one can document one’s travelogue experiences. It can be done through the media of journalistic essay, poetry, photography or through the means of other creative arts, like painting and sculpting.

It is this last category: the category of painting and sculpting that Nigerian born and United States of America based multi media artist, Etete Offiong belongs.

*Leafless, but not Lifeless, Acrylic on canvass, 2011

A self taught artist and an avid traveller, Offiong is  one artist that uses the medium of art to document or rather chronicle indelible experiences about his encounter with place, people and cultures.

According to him, “My artwork is mostly inspired by the various people, culture and terrains I have encountered on my travels through the United States, Europe and Africa. As such, I hope to create art work that enriches people’s lives.”

Just as pen is the vehicle with which the writer conveys his experience, Offiong loves colour and uses it functionally well, in creating and sharing his visual thoughts.

Offiong’s creative use of colour in visual compositions is soulfully arresting that one is left in no doubt that the artist has fair knowledge of the  real estate environment, where creativity and artistic talents are required for an aesthetically delivered interior designs.

Talking about he use of colour, he said: “I tend to work with bright colours inspired by the field painting technique. I create art work that immerses the viewer in a colour environment, with hopes of placing them in a serene state, even if just for a moment.”

And it this philosophical understanding  and application of colours that one encounters in Offiong’s array of works done mostly in mixed media forms.

As a technique, most of Offiong’s works are abstract in composition; and in some places, his paintings are so deeply textured with deep colours that they attain the statures of sculptures.

As he would say,” I love to create paintings that closely resemble sculpture by introducing texture, thereby enriching my non representational abstract works with multidimensional elements.”

It is this stylistic pattern and delivery technique that one also encounters in Offiong’s works richly laced with different strands of journeying motifs. Whether each work speaks about beautiful landscape  in the Caribbean, an Islamic Sheik in the Middle East or cultural gathering in Africa, it smells strongly of Offiong’s defining sense of creative use of colour.