1992

Creation

Òwòdáyé, Odùduwà (Oòdáyé, Oòduà)

Terra Art

Creation story in Yorùbá mythology. Ifé Òwòdáyé (Oòdáyé), ibi tí ojúmó ti ńmó wá. Ilé-Ifè. In Yorùbá language Ilé-Ifè means the Expansive Land Space where the world was created, and the first dawn of the earth from where all life began. Ilé-Ifè is the name of the town where Olódùmarè (God) the Creator, through Òdùduwà, started the creation process before it expanded to all parts of the earth, compared to Genesis chapter one in the Bible where human beings began. Òdùduwà was mandated by Olódùmarè to create the earth. Before he started on his way from heaven from where he was let down to earth by a rope of metal chain, he was given a bag containing a handful of soil in a snail shell, a palm kernel, some grains of corn, a chicken and a chameleon. On arriving on the earth, which was fully covered by endless primordial waters, while still suspended on the chain, he poured the handful of soil contained in the snail shell on the water surface, then poured the corn grains on the soil before letting down the chicken on the soil and grains of corn. Now the chicken in an attempt to eat the corn, by its nature began to scratch the soil, and by so doing began to scatter and spread the soil over the water surface extensively and the soil was spread and expanded over the water by the chicken to form the earth crust or land while the surface of the water that was not covered by the soil remain as the water body such as the ocean. Then he planted the palm kernel in the soil to form the vegetation, and the chameleon was let down to tread on the land and tested it to confirm and ascertain that the earth was firm and fit for human habitation. Thus Òwòdáyé (Oòdáyé), can be translated as Creation with Honor, Honorable Creation or simply Creation.

All materials employed in creating this artwork were derived from Ilé-Ifè. I obtained these different hues of color soil in my neighborhood in Ìgboyà area in Ilé-Ifè in Oòduà Republic in Nigeria where I was living off-campus after my lodging space in the Obáfémi Awólówò University, previously known as University of Ifè or Unife dormitory became too small for me and my accumulated artworks. It was a block from my house at an excavation site where a well was being dug. As the well hole was being burrowed, the workmen manually dug across many strata of the soil in different colors which naturally occurred in situ. At the site of the excavation, I saw piles of these variety of color soil and I was so excited that I scooped a large amount which became a treasure to me. So, every color you see in this painting and other titles in the series naturally occurred deep inside the earth and the hues are permanent and unchanging.

The colors that are not soil include the very black color which is derived from wood charcoal while the very white color is chalk and the off white and light ash colors are ashes from wood.

So, everything about this painting; Creation – Òwòdáyé, Odùduwà (Oòdáyé, Oòduà) (Yorùbá Language), is indigenous and original from the cradle, the source and the origin of the earth where life began.