By Japhet Alakam
Stella Awoh, a lecturer in the Department of Industrial Design, School of Arts, Yaba College of Technology, (Yabatech), has continued to demonstrate not only her creative ingenuity, but importantly,  how much she is determined to hold her own in a profession that is entirely dominated by the menfolk.

Last Saturday at Omenka Art Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos, this woman of many parts returned to the exhibition arena with her body of painting and crafts under the title, “ Hephizibah and Beulah.”

The week long show, featuring about 33  mixed-media paintings and beautifully hand-made hats was an upshoot of her previous show, which held at Didi Museum two years ago.

Alhaji Ibrahim Isiaku who declared the exhibition open stopped at nothing in describing  Awoh as a woman of artistic dexterity, a woman of strength and someone who has more to offer.

Noting  that the exhibition and the type of works displayed remained Awoh’s way of expressing her love to her fatherland and how she wishes that the country achieves her potentials. He then called on the  viewers to critically evaluate the works and appreciate it.

For Mrs Awoh who is the vice chairman, Society of Nigeria Artist, Lagos chapter, “it is not enough to be in the class rooms teaching without showing the product, there is need to show people the products of such process” so despite the challenges of been a widow and working at the same time there is need to do something hence this exhibition.  “For me I don’t believe in just seeing the process but the product. If I am a lecturer and I am teaching, my students as well should be able to see my own products not just the process we are teaching them. At the end of the day they come out with their products but what of we the lecturers so I did this in order to encourage them”she added.

The show, principally inspired by the artist’s philosophy, which requires art teachers to be more practical in their approach to teaching art at tertiary level , also was meant to inspire women especially the  widows who often feel desolate and forsaken as she gives them  hope and encouragement through her varied works.

On display were works on acrylic, canvass, mono prints, mixed media, metal foil and wood cut. But one area that attracted the attention of the viewers was the display of beautifully hand made hats of various designs and colours.

The title of the show Hephizibah and Beulah was unique on its own. The multi talented artist said,  Hephizibah was mentioned two times in the Bible, the first when Hezekiah used it to refer to his wife in the normal way for women in the house where it is expected that they will not be heard and the second in Isaiah 62:1-4 where God calls his people by this name and I decided to use it for Nigeria. According to her “no longer will Nigeria be termed desolate, we must be united, there must be unity though our tongues and tribes may differ, in brotherhood we must stand.” And Beulah is a symbolic name for Nigeria. “We will no longer be called forsaken or desolate but shall be called Hephzibah and Beulah.”

On the works Awoh disclosed that as a multi talented artist I applied every media in the works displayed.

Some of the works displayed were works that centered on love, unity, hope and the plight of widows. Among them are: Blossom, Can I Cry out, Great expectation, Travail of Widowhood, Anew Dawn, Give us a chance 1&11, Rose of Sharon, Unity and others.But the work that captured the eyes of the viewers was the New Dawn, a mixed media painting depicting a cock crowing.

According to the special guest of honour, Mrs Folorunso Alakija, founder of Rose of Sharon Foundation, the work is very inspiring, it inspired me and it signifies that there is hope for the future and that is why I went for it.

Kolade Oshinowo, former SNA chairman, and master print maker, Prof. Bruce Onabrakpeya respectively commended Awoh  for her creative prowess. “ she’s an artist who is multi talented, she is combining art and crafts” . As a versatile artist she is telling us that she is able to do a lot of things, make those crafts, do print and paint. I commend her for her solo show.” noted Oshinowo.