Paschal Ugwu
Nigerian based VISUAL ARTIST
Paschal Ugwu, born in 1996 in Orba, Nigeria, is an artist based in Abuja. He holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Paschal specializes in expressive figurative painting, working mainly with acrylic on canvas, as well as charcoal, pastel, and oil on paper and canvas. His distinctive style features unconventional figures, often with exaggerated eyes and a single ear, reflecting human emotions, personal impressions, and everyday life. He has exhibited his work in shows such as Uplifted Spirits, participated in the Rele Bootcamp residency, and featured in the Plus 234 Art Fair. In 2023, he was a finalist for the Kuenyehia Art Prize.
My work reflects emotions of curiosity, resilience, vulnerability, and strength. After losing hearing in one ear as a child, I became more reliant on visual cues—a perspective that shapes my art today.
The figures I paint, with their exaggerated eyes and single ear, represent how I experience the world. They invite deeper connection and remind us that perception is personal and varied. Through form, texture, and color, I capture often-overlooked moments, celebrating the beauty of seeing and feeling life in a different way.
University of Nigeria, Nsukka_ Bachelor of Arts_ 2014-2018
2025: solo exhibition, organised by KAC Gallery of Fellow Artists, NYC.
2024: participant, +234 Art Fair, Lagos State, Nigeria.
2025: participant, +234 Art Fair, Lagos State, Nigeria.
2023: finalist Kuenyehia Art Prize, Accra, Ghana
2021: participant, bootcamp by Rele Art Foundation, under Rele Gallery, Nigeria.
2025: participant, “To Have and To Be” group exhibition organised by Nomadic Art Gallery, Abuja.
2025: Solo show organised by KAC Gallery of Fellow Artists, New York City.
2024: participant, “Boom” group exhibition organised by Alexis Gallery, Lagos.
2024: participant, “Advancing Human Rights Through Art”, Artvocacy Forum 2024, organised by UN and Windsor Gallery, Abuja.
2024: participant, “A Thin Line” a group exhibition organised by artists, shown at Dela Roke Art Gallery, Port Harcourt.
2024: participant, “Survive and Thrive” group exhibition, organised by Windsor Art Gallery, Abuja.
2024: participant, “Nigerian Bar Association 20th Anniversary Conference”, a group exhibition organised by Windsor gallery, Abuja.
2024: participant, “Uplifted Spirits”, a group exhibition organised by Soto Gallery, Lagos
2024: participant, “VVS” organized by Ifeanyi Nwune, a group exhibition at Kokopeli Gallery, Lagos.
2024: participant, “Unveiled Journeys”, duo exhibition organised by unx.art, Abuja.
2023: participant, “The Last Act”, group exhibition organised by Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Lagos.
2023: participant, “Undiscovered”, group exhibition organised by Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Abuja.
2023: participant, group exhibition organised by Arnheim Collection, Ibadan.
2023: participant, “Run Through Walls” duo Art Exhibition, organised by Art Roost Gallery, Nigeria.
2022: participant, “The Mispredilection of Aboye: a marriage of literature and art”, under A Whitespace Creative Agency (AWCA), Lagos, Nigeria.
2020: participant, “In Time like This”, group exhibition, Orange Gallery, Calabar, Nigeria.
2020: participant, “The Manifesto I & II”, Nnamdi Azikiwe Library, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
2018: participant, “Dreams Alive 13, Marlima Basement, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
2018: participant, “Life in My City Art Festival”, Thought Pyramid, Abuja.
2017: Participant, “Walls and Patterns Painting Workshop” by Alliance Francais, Enugu State
Makama John
Makama John is a contemporary Artist who works from his home studio in Abuja, Nigeria. He has a Bsc. In Accounting, but decided to focus on art in 2019. His art focuses on the connections that exist between us as humans, and between us and our natural, built and perceived environments. His use of the green colour represents positivity, growth and the power of experience and his use of dots represents the multitude of our interactions and connections. He works mostly with Charcoal, Acrylic and Oils on canvas and Paper, although his process is highly research and experience intensive; and it continues to evolve as his practice expands.
My paintings are an expression of the connections that I find as I journey through life. I find
the connections in the obvious- like our relationships with one another as humans, our
shared dreams and ambitions; also in the less obvious- like in our shared mitochondria DNA,
and our relationship with the environmental, natural and built and how it influences our
choices, actions and objectives.
Growing up with my grandparents, and working on the farm, I experienced the circles of
growth, death and rebirth that keep the world moving. It also taught me to appreciate the
blessings and resources of the earth, and aim to protect and preserve them. The solitude of
farm work also helped me to introspect and to experience the cycles, designs and
connections of nature. These thoughts and process I carry into and interpret in my work, as
a way to connect with the innate feeling of being human, that connects every one of us.
My technique is experimental, geometric and rich in the us of the colour green, which
although abundant in nature is not a primary colour, it is an experience.
As an artist, my vision is to project the positive, the beautiful, the inner expression and
solitude, the spiritual and scientific, all influenced by the beauty and knowledge gained from
growing up in Northern Nigeria where I am from.
In my artistic journey I realised I had forgotten one of the most important reasons why I started painting which is immortalising the people who have affected or influenced my life in one way or the other. I take out time often to paint people who have made a significant mark in my life and artistic journey, this is a portrait of “Krested Hillary” a childhood friend.