THE COLLECTION
About the Collection
This collection is foremost an exploration. Seeking a deeper connection with her roots, Modé delved into her culture. She aimed to create a hybrid of the culture she already knew about, and the culture she learned about. Guns, Flowers & Adiré came to life as she grew fascinated with the vibrancy of flowers and the subtlety and poignancy of adiré. The guns are a figurative alter-ego juxtaposed against the other two subject matters; a harsh contrast especially towards the delicacy of flowers. Flowers and guns both have a strange connection with death. Each reminds us of the fragility of life. Flowers, with their short lifespan, reflect temporality, while guns advertise the swiftness of death. Once you are gone, you are gone. Modé used a lot of colour in each of the pieces to embody richness and vibrancy.
The Guns, Roses & Adiré collection started off with the painting you see here titled Lola, Lola. Modé wanted to explore the meanings of her tribe’s (Yoruba) tie & dye patterns and techniques. In the background, in the frequently used natural indigo colour, we see one of the most popular adiré patterns, which is called “Talking Drums". The focus of the painting is on the young lady, Lola. She stares at the viewer with her lips slightly apart, giving a sultry invitation to stare at her beauty. Although her hair is wild and unnatural, Lola is confident and shows pride. Lola wears coral beads, which are precious stones with special status in the Yoruba culture. The flowers painted are red roses and calla lilies. Calla lilies are one of Nigeria's local flowers. Modé added guns to the painting to create a harsh figurative contrast to the delicacy of the flowers.
The artwork titled Mosun explores similar subjects to those explored in Lola, Lola. The subtle differences are due to Modé dealing with different flowers including the amaryllis, which is Nigeria’s national flower, as well as her use of an additional medium – the graphite pencil. The adiré circle pattern means “wealth will come your way”, and the rows in the middle don’t have a meaning because it’s a modern made-up pattern.
The word “ibeji” means “twins” in Yoruba. In this painting, we see a pair of non-identical twins sharing one body. They are clothed in an adiré print called “circle of life”. The twins’ heads are adorned with different flowers – some British flowers that represent Nigeria’s colonial background, and others like the calla lily, which is a local Nigerian flower. The twins have precious coral beads around their one neck. In Yorubaland, coral beads are usually used for ceremonial events. Rather than creating an adiré patterned background, Modé depicted guns in an adiré-like fashion.
Reveal is a painting that you need to examine closely. It depicts the chaotic nature of our minds. Through our mess, one can find meaning and beauty in the most random situations. The white lines represent the chaos while the black lines on the purple background show the different adiré patterns and drawings which portray human beauty.
This artwork Colo Guns shows some of the guns which existed in Nigeria’s colonial/pre-colonial era. The colonial timeline is questionable but the British empire came to Nigeria in the 1800’s and left the year 1960. The guns depicted are as follows, Dolne Apache Pistol, Lefaucheux Pin-Fire Revolver, Bergmann No.3, Colt Model 1849 Pocket Pistol, Le Mat Pistol, Cooper Under-Hammer Pistol, Remington Double Derringer, Bar-Hammer “Pepper Box” Pistol, French Duelling/Target Pistol and Belgian Dueling/Target Pistol. The background is the called “wo ro” translates as “something slanted”.
The painting is a celebration of the Nigerian national flower – the amaryllis. The artwork is highly decorated with various adiré patterns to adorn the beautiful flower. Gold paint is used to highlight the petals as well as the bullets that surround The Amaryllis.
Owé explores proverbs from the Yoruba culture. “Owé” can mean “proverb” or “proverbs”, depending on the context. In each row of this adiré patterned piece, there is a direct translation of a Yoruba proverb, along with an explanation of the translation. For example, direct translation: “The Muslim from Ibadan is like the Sango from Ilorin.” Explanation: “Different people practice their religion differently.” Also within the pattern Modé plays with different prints of the calla lily flower and the Remington Double Derringer Gun.
Calla Lily Rose is the only digital art in this collection. As with most of her other photographs Modé manipulates the photograph to give it originality. The repeated flowers are reminiscent of adiré, which is also gently superimposed on the image in the soft colour lilac. The soft grey spots splattered around the piece evoke calmness.
Related is an exploration of different faces of women, shapes, and patterns placed in a calm indigo colour. Although of the same race, the women have slightly different skin tones. One has a yellow undertone, another a red one, while the third in the middle is a mix of both. The piece is a statement that although we come in different shapes and sizes we are connected, we are Related.
