Uzoma Orji is a visual/digital/web artist and creative technologist in Abuja. His work concerns sublimating reality through art, building worlds we can dream towards with technological tools we can have. He explores ancestral spirituality through a modern-day lens. His art also helps him connect and understand himself better.
Who Is Uzoma Orji As A Creative?
“This is always a difficult question to answer because I think of myself as a creative pancake, meaning I’m broad. I wear a lot of creative hats. If I had to, I’m a digital/visual artist and a creative technologist.”
“My practice is about the space between art and technology. I like to create digital products and virtual experiences in terms of art. I like to work with other artists and creative brands to advance their artistry. I have a studio that does this.”
Regarding content, Uzoma Orji is interested in African society and history. He’s curious about why we are the way we are and why things work the way they do here.
“I like to look beneath the covers of our reality in this part of the world and unpack what is driving the way things are in this day and age.”
He discovered what he calls “the postcolonial crises of identity” from that exploration. His hypothesis is, “Many challenges and difficulties we face come from a lack of identity. Africans are still trying to figure out how to be in a world that wasn’t designed by and for them.”
From that point, he thinks of a progressive African world and tries to manifest it using technology and digital space. Then, he asks, “what does a world that works for us look like?”
I’m very interested in African spirituality and the traditional African worldview. And I use tech and digital media to understand it more. A lot of digital tools are hallucinatory. And if you think of Jazz (juju) and getting divination, there are parallels between that and Skype. So I try to find mixtures of that, 21st-century technology but working for ancestral wisdom.
Who Is Uzoma Orji As A 21st-century Dibia?
“I could answer this question in 100 different ways. At the end of the day, I want to play. I want to create in a very playful way. I’m the first of 3 kids, and with my siblings, I lead the creation of games. I used to create games for me and my teammates to play. We had a sandbox, and we would build houses for ants to live in. I tried to make a cardboard city once. I love football, and I had imaginary games in my head, and I would play like all the players.”
He used to like Supa Strikas before it became weird.
Uzoma Orji Has Been Expressing His Art For Over 5 Years
“It’s hard to say because it happens in stages. But sometime in university, in my 2nd or 3rd year, I had a friend who exposed me to the art world and made me see that it was possible to express myself in this way. We had a fashion blog; she would photograph me, and I’d be the stylist and model. That was 2016/2017, so about 5 years now.”
What Are Your Goals As A Creative Technologist?
“It’s hard to say because it happens in stages. But sometime in university, in my 2nd or 3rd year, I had a friend who exposed me to the art world and made me see that it was possible to express myself in this way. We had a fashion blog; she would photograph me, and I’d be the stylist and model. That was 2016/2017, so about 5 years now.”
That’s what Uzoma Orji is really for: to explore possibilities.
Hurdles In His Creative Journey
“The biggest one that comes to mind is not being a starving artist. Figuring out how to sustain myself while doing what I love to do, and that’s an ongoing journey. I’m learning more and more that abundance comes from passion.”Uzoma Orji is finding that balance between passion and work.
His Favourite Quote
Getting to 10″ is his current thing now. “I’m trying to get to ten.
I’m very inspired by Kendrick Lamar’s work. Watching The Heart Part 5, I said I don’t think I’m at a 10. I haven’t even started the creative journey. So, my goal is to get to 10. It keeps me going.”
By visualizing what 10 looks like, Uzoma Orji can make quality decisions about his life.
“If I need something, I ask myself, would it help me get to 10? If it’s a no, I’m not going that way.”
Conclusion
Uzoma Orji’s drive for fun, creativity, and enhancing the African sphere is a set of elements that make him a unique creative. From his consistency since he entered the world of art and technology, it’s clear that Uzoma will not stop until he gets to 10.
