There is a great relationship between man and earth in my paintings. Emotions and expressions of the figures I represent remind us that we all come from the same place.

(Midegbeyan Ojisua)

In the beginning presents a series of paintings by Midegbeyan Ojisua, whose title refers to Genesis and the idea of a common origin. This notion of a beginning resonates in the Nigerian artist’s work, in which the earth plays a central role. Through its texture, material, and nuances, earth becomes the starting point for his compositions, bringing forth figures as if they were coming to life before our eyes.

Inspired by Italian Renaissance painting, Midegbeyan Ojisua creates portraits of ethereal figures, still lifes of everyday life, and lavish still lifes that evoke the gentleness of bygone moments. Somewhere between sketch and material, his paintings play on contrasts and create suspended spaces, where atmospheric light helps establish a timeless quality.

His works thus invite the viewer into a state of contemplation—sometimes melancholic or dreamlike—where reverie takes hold and the mind wanders.