Another new season approaches. The sun rises a little earlier now. And even after a mild winter many of us find ourselves invigorated by the promise of ever-lengthening days. In her cover for the March 13, 2023 issue, Diana Ejaita uses blocks of shape and color to invoke our yearning for the abundance of spring. This is the artist’s seventh cover for the magazine; soon she will move to Florence, with her young daughter, for a six-month artist-in-residence post at the Villa Romana. I talked to Ejaita about the spaces and climates that enable different modes of creation and about her dream to build a refuge where artistry can thrive.
You’re building an art space near Abeokuta, in Nigeria. How did you get the idea, and what do you hope it will be?
I love Lagos, but it is also very intense and tiring. As a city, it is a base, but a break is required every once in a while. With my family, I searched for a place in the countryside but not too far outside the city. We found a quiet area only two hours from Lagos, and not far from Abeokuta (which means “refuge among the rocks”).
Ejaita and her daughter, Mathilda, visit the new creative communal space that their family is building outside Lagos.Photographs by Bright Ejaita and Diana Ejaita.
The dream is to create a refuge for exchange and creation, where anyone can come for a period of time to focus on any type of creative project—from painting to pottery, bronze sculpture to dance. A place where locals and nonlocals can come give or attend workshops, on food or medicinal plants, textile design, and so on.
After growing up in Cremona, Italy, you lived in Berlin for many years, with stays in Nigeria. Do you prefer hot or cold climates? How does each affect your work?
I am surely more attracted to warm countries with an abundance of sun and light but, maybe, now that I think about it, in cold weather, I tend to spend more time on my own, in my creative cave. When the weather is hot, I am more social and I privilege activities that involve other humans—like making ceramics, or silk screen, or casting in bronze.
Your designs feature bold graphic shapes and silhouettes. Do you ever invent background stories about the figures you portray?
When I draw a character, I need to have a story in mind while I make the shape. I think about how this person came to be on that page, what her life is, how his day was, her wishes. This helps me give me a feeling, or a sense of it, to portray on paper.
Mathilda explores a foundry on Igun Street in Benin City.Photograph by Lynhan Balatbat
You have a new children’s book coming out in May. Is making children’s books different now that you have a child?
This is perfect timing for me to take on children’s books. My first book was published in 2022, shortly after Mathilda was born. Now, every evening, Mathilda collects a stash of books and asks me to read them, to look at them with her. When I draw, I try to see the colors and figures through her eyes. I often ask myself, How would Mathilda feel looking at this page? I try to learn more from her every day.
For more covers by Diana Ejaita, see below:
“Iya Ni Wura (Mother Is Gold)”
“Al Mare!”
“Tastes of Home”
Find Diana Ejaita’s covers, cartoons, and more at the Condé Nast Store.
Sourse: newyorker.com
